Forming executive summary Cleveland
A Visual Arts, Craft and Design Industry Study
1 Forming Cleveland
A Visual Arts, Craft and Design Industry Study
©2014, Cleveland, OH www.cultureforward.org 216.575.0331
2 Cover Art: “MoCA 10 (Agincourt)” by Barry Underwood, 2012 / Archival Pigment Print / 36'' x 36'' Executive Summary
5 / Executive Summary
7 / Arts as a Competitive Advantage
9 / About this Report
13 / Visual Arts Legacy
15 / The Visual Arts Through Data
23 / Commerce of the Visual Arts
31 / Economic Impact of the Visual Arts
37 / Cleveland’s VACD Sector Challenges and Opportunities
41 / Sector in Transition: Changing Landscape of the Art Market
45 / Cleveland VACD Sector’s Future
47 / Public Policy for Arts and Culture in Other Cities
57 / Recommendations to the Cleveland VACD Sector contents Case Studies
60 / MOCA Cleveland: Sturdy, Dynamic & Stylish
66 / Tremont: Creative Placekeeping
72 / St. Clair Superior: Creative Reuse
78 / Public Art: Placemaking in Action
84 / Artist Activists: Heightening Social Awareness
90 / CAN Journal: Pressing for Change
96 / Dan Cuffaro: Remaking the Regional Economy
104 / Cleveland CycleWerks: Starting Up “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” - Pablo Picasso
“The Reading Nest” by Mark Reigelman / Summer 2013’s “See Also” temporary installation at the Eastman Reading Garden, Cleveland Public Library’s Main Branch / Photo courtesy of LAND studio
i The VACD will also be referred to as “the visual arts sector” or “visual arts.” ii Bernard T. Ferrari and Jessica Goethals. “Using rivalry to spur innovation.” May 2010. Source: http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/innovation/ using_rivalry_to_spur_innovation. P.1. iii See Elizabeth S. Cohen and Thomas V. Cohen, Daily Life in Renaissance Italy, Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, pp. 7–8; and Bernard T. Ferrari and Jessica Goethals. “Using rivalry to spur innovation.” May 2010. Source: http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/innovation/ using_rivalry_to_spur_innovation. P.3. iv Arts and Economic Prosperity. The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts and Culture Organizations and Their Audiences. IV Summary Report.Americans for the Arts. Source: http://letsgoarts.org/document.doc?id=979 The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts & Culture Organizations in Oklahoma.Americans for the Arts. Source: http://www.arts.ok.gov/pdf/about_us/ EIStudy0110FullReport.pdf. For more information, refer to reports at the Americans for the Arts website: http://www.americansforthearts.org/ by-program/reports-and-data/research-studies-publications/americans-for-the-arts-publications/research-reports. Arts, Culture, and Economic Prosperity in Greater Philadelphia. Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. 2012. Source: http://www.philaculture.org/sites/ default/files/2012_prosperity_report_single_pages.pdf. v Jennifer Novak-Leonard. Measuring Chicago’s (Artistically) Creative Economy. Cultural Policy Center at the University of Chicago. May 2014. Source: http://culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu/creative-economy/creative-economy.pdf.
4 Executive Summary
Art, as illustrated by Picasso’s quote, possesses the unique ability to cleanse our souls of everyday monotony. Given the transformative capabilities of art, we wondered how the arts could help revitalize a city, and, perhaps, revive an entire region. Can the same then be true for the “souls” of our cities, or even the collective soul of a region?
The Visual Arts, Craft, and Design (VACD) sector, i encompassing a wide spectrum of creative endeavors, has an impact on all of us in often surprising ways. When we speak generally of the “visual arts,” names like Rembrandt, Cassatt, Warhol, and Bearden may come to mind; however, the Cleveland VACD sector, including all of Cuyahoga County for the purposes of this study, Then the city of Florence began construction of its now- reaches well beyond conventional definitions of art to famous Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (more commonly encompass a variety of consumer products such as known as the Duomo) and in 1419 sought an architect to jewelry, furniture, and even homes. build a dome to cover the massive, 42-meter-wide space In the past, the three great centers of the Renaissance— above the church’s chancel. Such a vast space had not been Rome, Florence, and Venice—provided great examples capped with a dome since the Pantheon’s construction, in of energizing industrial innovation “from [creating] the ancient times. To overcome this extraordinary architectural world’s largest masonry dome to linear perspective, challenge, Brunelleschi, who won the commission, developed a modern-day portrait painting, technical breakthroughs number of engineering techniques and construction practices. in glassblowing and bronze casting, the italic type of the . . . His masterpiece defied precedent on innumerable levels: Aldine Press, sfumato and chiaroscuro, and the designs it was the first octagonal dome in history, the first dome in Leonardo’s sketchbooks.” ii The creative energy of to be built without a wooden supporting frame, the largest the Renaissance promoted urbanization and created a dome in existence at the time, and is still the largest masonry community of painters, craftsmen, and sculptors intensely dome in the world. By drawing on the past and innovating interacting in dense cities with peers, learning from each beyond it, Brunelleschi was able to achieve what many had other, exchanging ideas and techniques. The growing deemed impossible. (2010, p.4) prominence of artists in this time period “allowed for As this example demonstrates, the arts provide both creative interpretation and stylistic flexibility” of artists’ aesthetic and economic benefits to individuals and work, leading to more innovative ideas funded by negotiated cities alike. Likewise, much current research reveals contracts.iii Thus, the Renaissance provides a blueprint how existing artistic and cultural production has for utilizing the arts to foster cutting-edge engineering direct economic benefits for regional economies advancements in an urban environment. Bernard Ferrari by attracting investments, generating tax revenues, and Jessica Goethals describe the positive metropolitan encouraging in-migration of workers, and energizing effects of this collaboration: tourism and consumer purchases. iv Furthermore, economic development intermediaries, public policy makers, and the general public increasingly recognize the impact creative ideas and entrepreneurial workforce can have on economic performance. vn th
5 In this study, the economic impact’s full breadth is considered through statistical analyses of data and interviews and by analyzing a wide spectrum of economic sectors and focus groups, we demonstrated how the economic effect occupations beyond those commonly associated with of the VACD sector expands beyond direct economic artists. The authors believe that artistic creativity enhances benefits of the artists. many areas of the regional economy, including design, This study illustrates the extensive economic impact marketing, packaging, and presentation of products the Cleveland visual art sector has on the economy of and services in various sectors. This hypothesis is consistent Cuyahoga County. The report’s case studies also uncover with an approach used by Ann Markusen in her assessment the Cleveland VACD sector’s economic contributions of artistic dividends. vi According to Markusen, the artistic to industries outside of the VACD, emphasizing the dividend refers to a concentration of artists in a particular larger potential the visual arts industries have for area that leads to a widespread impact over a broad regional economies. range of industries in a regional economy. We did not replicate Markusen’s study in this research; instead,
“Factory Work Series” by Stephanie Craig. This hand built ceramic sculpture matches delicate figurines with eroded industrial imagery. The Factory Work Series comments on traditional and contemporary ideologies and cultural habits regarding labor, effort and productivity, as well as art, production, design, craftsmanship, and artistic intention
vi Ann Markusen and Greg Schrock’s study use this concept in their investigation of urban artistic specialization and economic development implications, in Urban Studies, Volume 43, No. 10: 1661-1686, 2006. “Artistic dividends” are also discussed in earlier publications by Ann Markusen and co-authors.
66 arts as a competitive advantage
The VACD sector, along with other arts and culture disciplines, can provide a region with a “sticky,” or long-lasting, regional competitive advantage in the form of an economic base industry— one that is capable of creating local economic benefits by exporting its products beyond the regional boundaries.
As in the Renaissance, new knowledge is created when artists look at the world with their unique perspective to spark conversations on previously unseen possibilities. Inventions can then occur when the ideas are conceptualized into a novel product—a real-time digital visual input, 3-D printing, or a material that precisely controls the flow of light and color through structure. Innovation occurs when the invention is applied in practice: an Internet conferencing diverse, and primed for the productive application of based on a real-time visual input, manufacturing car parts creative ideas and innovative techniques. The research from 3-D printed prototypes, or ALON (transparent team characterizes VACD as an amalgamation of distinct aluminum) or translucent concrete manufactured from visual art mediums along with broader maintenance and a material that precisely controls the flow of light and communication functions associated with the sector. color through structure. Collectively, such ingenuity holds The VACD sector, nonetheless, is at or near its regional great potential for spurring a multitude of economic audience capacity, which creates some limitations for and social benefits if a region embraces it and provides endogenous growth, or growth from internal resources. necessary support. As an economic development driver, however, the sector This study illuminates the Cleveland VACD sector’s role has the potential to grow beyond a local niche, creating a in the regional economy, illustrating its importance and regional competitive advantage in art products appealing providing a platform for developing practical steps to to a national or even international audience. When taking sustain and grow the visual arts. Both quantitative and into account the scale and scope of the regional visual qualitative findings support VACD’s image as vibrant, arts talent network, the existing institutional support, real estate fundamentals, and cooperative character of
the visual arts scene, it becomes clear that the VACD
sector is currently operating below its capacity to create a
more significant regional economic impact. The research
team believes this sector provides a unique competitive
advantage for greater Cleveland and represents a potential
source for new and continued economic growth.
7 “Sound Between Heartbeats” by Andrea Joki, 2013 / Oil and Acrylic on Linen / 35'' x 35'' vii Iryna Lendel, Sharon Bliss, Candice Clouse, Merissa Piazza, Ziona Austrian, Kathryn W. Hexter, Renee Constantino, and Matthew Hrubey. “Remix Cleveland - The Cleveland Music Sector and Its Economic Impact.” Center for Economic Development, Cleveland State University. October 2011. Executive summary: http://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/urban_facpub/428/. Full report: http://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/urban_ facpub/427/. viii Data suppression refers to a requirement of withholding data that otherwise could be used to identify individual respondents.
8 about this report
This study was commissioned by the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) and follows CSU’s first report, Remix Cleveland, which examined Cleveland’s music sector.vii The study identifies the VACD sector by delineating its components, learning its dynamics, and assessing the economic impact it has on the regional economy.
The Center for Economic Development (referred to hereafter as “the Center”) of the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University conducted this study. The Center gathered answers to a set of core research questions regarding the typology We believe the findings of this report will spur a discussion and economic impact of the Cleveland VACD sector and provoke creative thoughts leading to investments, with methodology adapted from the broader research regional dialogue, improved public policies, and a clear framework of Remix Cleveland: vision for the role of this sector in the regional economy.
• What constitutes the VACD sector in Cuyahoga The research phase of this study occurred in 2013-2014. County—composition of industries and This report summarizes the detailed findings and occupations? methodologies in nine chapters with each chapter reflecting a different stage of the research. • What characteristics help describe the sector now and its dynamics over the last decade? Chapter 1 delineates the breadth and depth of the Cleveland VACD sector, organizing it into a structural • What industries, components, and types of framework of industries that house visual art-related products are significant to the vitality of the businesses and nonprofits. The typology accounts for Cleveland VACD sector? two non-hierarchical industry levels, and the second level • Which unique properties of the Cleveland details different visual art mediums providing visibility VACD sector make it thrive and contract? to the prominent subsectors while also minimizing the need for data suppression. viii The Cleveland VACD sector • What challenges is the Cleveland VACD sector was analyzed in comparison to the regional and national experiencing? economy, as well as similar regions, while simultaneously illustrating the sector’s dynamics over time. Indicators • What are prominent examples of success in such as employment and wages delineated the size the Cleveland VACD sector? and scope of the VACD sector. Because this study was • What economic impact do the Cleveland VACD conducted at an industry level, an analysis of workers’ sector and its components create for the local occupations was also included in Chapter 2. Those economy? individuals who have visual arts-related skills and who are employed across all industries in Cuyahoga County were grouped by commonalities of talents and abilities—e.g., occupation. Then, these groups were analyzed through the lens of a broader region—the Cleveland Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)—due to data availability.
9 about this report
Chapter 3 enriched the quantitative analyses of industries and occupations with qualitative findings and reflections of individuals who attended one of the six focus groups. These local visual arts scene representatives described the richness of the local visual arts scene, opportunities for young artists, importance of educational institutions, the viability of arts neighborhoods, and the challenges of a limited consumer base. Dovetailing these rich descriptions are findings from the survey of individual In Chapter 7, all of the VACD sector’s components are artists in Chapter 4. This survey provides a deeper assembled into one industrial cluster to assess its economic understanding of how professional artists function; impact on Cuyahoga County. The 2013 economic impact moreover, it reveals how amateur artists complete is calculated by including local employment of artists their work often supported by a household, with other across various industries, individual and amateur VACD family members’ income supporting an artist. artists, and contributions made to the local economy via visitor spending at art events and galleries. Chapter 5 looks deeper at the contribution of artists to the local economy by studying the supply of local artists Chapter 8 includes eight case studies: and the demand from both in- and outside the region. • MOCA Cleveland: Sturdy, Dynamic, & Stylish—The According to the survey of artists at local art fairs, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Cleveland elevated supply of local artists in the region and high quality of local art are often hurt by a perceived lower • Tremont: Creative Placemaking—the Tremont reputation of Cleveland’s art when compared to other neighborhood prominent art locales like New York or San Francisco. The mystery of art commerce continues to be unveiled • St. Clair Superior: Creative Reuse—the St. Clair in the following chapter (Chapter 6), which describes Superior neighborhood the import and export of local arts via the lens of art • Public Art: Placemaking in Action—public art in galleries. Chapter 6 not only reflects on local arts but also Cleveland refers to broader conceptual changes surrounding the sale of art and consumer outreach through digital media • Artist Activists: Heightening Social Awareness— and new forms of retail. Donald Black, Jr. and Mimi Kato
• CAN Journal: Pressing for Change—The Collective Arts Network (CAN) Journal
• Dan Cuffaro: Remaking the Regional Economy—
designer, educator and business professional
Dan Cuffaro
• Cleveland CycleWerks: Starting Up—motorcycle manufacturer Cleveland CycleWerks
Finally, Chapter 9 provides directories of visual arts organizations and individual artists followed by appendices with detailed data, methodological instruments, and databases of artists and art organizations.
10 Craft Clay Fiber Glass Leather Metal Paper Plastic Wood sector descriptions
Visual Arts Computer Art Drawing Mixed Media Painting Photography Printmaking Sculpture
Design Architecture Fashion Game Design Graphic Industrial Interior Landscape
Ceramic Studio at Baldwin Wallace 11 University / Photo courtesy of CPAC Morgan Papermaking Conservatory / Photo by Seth Beattie ix The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, http://ech.case.edu/cgi/article.pl?id=A18. x To learn more about Cleveland’s art history, go to www.clevelandartandhistory.org.
12 visual arts legacy
Cleveland may not be the first city that comes to mind when thinking of a rich visual arts legacy, but the city’s assets and potential are, nevertheless, quite impressive.
The earliest recognition for the city came in 1876 when local artist Archibald Willard presented The Spirit of ’76 at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia to widespread acclaim. ix Following the success of the exhibition, Willard competing efforts representing conservative and modern returned to Cleveland and founded the Cleveland Art approaches, respectively; however, their members began Club, beginning a long tradition of collaboration among a path towards collaboration. Additionally, the Cleveland artists. Interestingly, today’s collaborative visual arts Museum of Art (1913), endowed in 1891, was also landscape in Cleveland was shaped by the 20th century established around this time, providing a measure of industrial market for artistic talent and products. The prestige that only a dedicated art museum could offer commercialism of the visual arts, as seen in the lithography, a region. The museum would serve as an important engraving, and publishing industries at the turn of the springboard for young artists, many of whom were coming 20th century, gave artists the opportunity to make a living from the neighboring Cleveland School of Art (Cleveland while simultaneously producing their own personal art. Institute of Art since 1948), which had among its faculty With the freedom of financial security in hand, Cleveland’s the renowned Cleveland painter Frederick Gottwald. artists found that cooperation, not competition, was the As one of the most important supportive means for local order of the day. artists, the museum offered its renowned May Show (1919-1993), an annual juried exhibition of Cleveland’s By 1890, applied design disciplines like architecture also local visual artists and crafters. The May Show would end began to make their mark on the city with the opening up exhibiting many artists from the Cleveland School—a of the internationally acclaimed Arcade. This was the first testament to the innovativeness and collaborative effort hint of a budding Golden Age for Cleveland’s visual found in Cleveland at the time, particularly in the medium arts and design sector. Cleveland’s 1903 Group Plan, of watercolor paintings. conceived by architects Daniel Burnham, Arnold Brunner, and John Carrere, represented one of the first fully realized Before the Great Depression, Cleveland was nationally city plans formed during the so-called City Beautiful recognized as a city with a high concentration of artists Movement. This plan laid the foundation for many of and a distinctive cluster of visual arts. Unfortunately, the Cleveland’s major landmarks, including, The Mall, the Federal art sector was sustained by industries that were hit hard Building, and Cleveland City Hall. Shortly thereafter, by the economic decline of the 1930s. The Depression American Greetings (1906), which would become the took a heavy toll on the arts and the arts organizations world’s largest publicly owned manufacturer and distributor that had relied on members with steady paychecks and of greeting cards, was founded in Cleveland. x discretionary dollars provided by local industry. Still reeling from this shock in the 1940s and postwar era, the visual A few years later, the Cleveland Society of Artists (1913), arts sector in Cleveland sought to double down on the a revival of the stalled Cleveland Art Club, and the practical application of the arts through an increased Kokoon Arts Club (1911) were initially established as emphasis on applied design disciplines, for example, at the
Cleveland Institute of Art. This shift led, in part, to what
would become an arts scene less dominated by citywide
13 artist groups and more focused on neighborhoods and particularly damaging in subsequent decades. Declines their unique contributions particularly during the late in many corporations among the Fortune 500, fueled in 20th and early 21st centuries. particular by the decrease in manufacturing employment, have made the neighborhood-based artists, who were The development of Cleveland’s robust community otherwise largely shielded from these trends, of greater development corporation (CDC) networks strengthened importance to the VACD sector. Today, approaches that this organic shift toward neighborhoods. The move has support and encourage these neighborhood-based artists, led to changes in perceptions and definitions surrounding like those found in the Tremont and St. Clair Superior Cleveland’s visual arts, with lower-profile, but nonetheless neighborhoods, have experienced continued success high quality art, occurring at the neighborhood level. The in Cleveland. postwar prominence of applied disciplines like Industrial Design and Architecture, supported by the strength of the region’s manufacturing and Fortune 500 corporate profile, would find the transition in the regional economy
78th Street Studios / Photo courtesy of CPAC 14 the visual arts through data
The study began by creating a detailed definition of the VACD sector in Cuyahoga County. The research team created an industrial profile of the sector, including functional components and art mediums applicable for data analysis.
Each component and art medium corresponds to a category of Artists into any specific medium or genre, regional industry or group of industries as identified so this small sector was made into a typological unit. through a North American Industry Classification Lastly, the Education, Health, & Museums and Galleries & System (NAICS) code (Figure I). This methodology Promoters categories represent businesses that also act allowed the team to assess the typology of industries as a communication mechanism for the industry and within the VACD sector and analyze trends of industries substantially differ from the other sub-sectors. Thus, the and sector components over time. five categories are: Artists; Mediums; Architecture & Design; Galleries & Promoters; and Education, Health, & Museums. Often, industrial studies are conducted according to their Additionally, the six various mediums were classified as a products with respective product cycles and applicable unit and as separate entities in the analysis. The team innovation. However, this study found that the visual arts divided the Medium category into six subcategories are not as homogeneous as other industries. Instead according to the product’s primary material (glass; textile; of being separated by functional components of one metal, stone and wood), technological process (photography, industry (i.e. music), the VACD sector was divided into printing) or application (jewelry). The rationale is that five categories and six mediums. While determining the each medium creates unique inventions applied through categories, the team discovered that the Architecture & either self-proprietorship (individual artist’s business) or Design sector has a different culture and business model a business model of an incorporated businesses (with with significantly different wages and employment modes paid employees). for artists, making this subsector its own category. Also, due to data limitations, the team could not split the
Figure I. Typology of VACD Sector in Cuyahoga County
Visual Arts, Craft & Design Sector
Architecture & Education, Health Galleries & Artists Mediums Design & Museums Promoters
Metal, Stone, & Glass Jewelry Photography Printing Textiles Wood
15 the visual arts through data
Figure II: Index of VACD Employment, Cuyahoga County, Ohio & U.S.
105
100
95
90
85 Employment (2000 = 100)
80
75
70
65
60
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Cuyahoga County Ohio United States
Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW)
16 the visual arts through data
Figure III. 2012 VACD Employment by Subsector in Cuyahoga County
Galleries & Promoters 50 Education, Health, & Museums 506
Artists 23
Architecture Other & Design Photography 7,105 Metal, Stone & Printing 1,890 469 Wood 5,567 51 Jewelry 734 Glass 51
Textiles 233
Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW)
In 2012, the Cleveland VACD sector totaled 9,573 manufacturing, and wholesale and retail (both physical employees. This sector experienced a 31.4% decline and electronic) sales related to printing. This sector lost from 2000-2011, but between 2011 and 2012, the VACD 3,082 jobs from 2000 to 2012 due to large losses in a sector in Cuyahoga County grew by 1.7%. This percentage few sizable businesses and across the subsector. may seem small compared to the decline, but it becomes The second largest subsector was Architecture & Design, more impressive when considering the visual arts’ continued though at 1,890 jobs and 19.7% share, it is just under decline statewide and stagnancy nationwide during the one-third the size of Printing. Artists have the lowest same time period (Figure II). Moreover, while employment levels of employment, at 23 employees, which is a decreased from 2000 to 2012 in Cuyahoga County, the characteristic of the industrial data approach that VACD’s employment trend is characteristic of employment undercounts individual artists not employed by a particular patterns for both the United States and Ohio. All three company as defined by an NAICS code. Other components geographic regions follow very similar patterns throughout of this study, such as focus groups, case studies and surveys, the study period, although the employment in individual supplemented understanding of this undercounted segment. VACD subsectors varied. Subsectors with employment numbers under 100 are The Printing subsector, the largest VACD medium, dominated Glass, Galleries, & Promoters and Metal, Stone, & Wood. the 2012 employment with 5,567 employees and 58.1% share of all VACD employment in the Cleveland area (Figure III). Printing includes eighteen industries all related to art printing: periodical publishers and books printing, commercial printing and their supporting activities, professional equipment manufacturing for printing and support materials (like ink and stationery products) 17 the visual arts through data
Figure IV: Employment Location Quotient and Average Wage Growth of the Cleveland VACD
60%
Metal, Stone & Wood (0.62) 40% Textiles (1.02)
20% Architecture & Printing (2.40) Design (1.18) Galleries & Promoters (0.59) 0
Jewelry (0.84) Photography -20% (0.93)
Average Wage Growth 2011-2012 Wage Average -40%
-60% Artists (2.87)
-80%
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 2012 Employment Location Quotient
Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) Note: All data adjusted to 2012 dollars using CPI average for US cities, Midwest for Ohio, and Cleveland MSA for Cuyahoga County. In addition, the subsector Education, Health, & Museums is not included in Figure IV due to data suppression.
Sectors with location quotients (LQ) above one suggest subsectors with an LQ above one include Printing (2.40); that they have the potential to export their products outside Education, Health, & Museums (1.84); Architecture & Design of the region, bringing money into the local economy. xi (1.18); and Textiles (1.02). These sectors, except Artists, In analyzing this sector’s concentration and its components also experienced increased average wages and, combined, by using 2012 employment LQ, Artists showed strong illustrate a strong potential to export their products regional presence compared to the same share of outside of the region. this subsector in the U.S. (2.87) (Figure IV). xii Other xi Location Quotient is a technique for determining which sectors are export-oriented. Export-oriented sectors are defined as having location quotients greater than 1 and import-oriented sectors have location quotients of less than 1. xii The Artists subsector is very small and represented only 23 employees in 2012. Therefore, we are hesitant to say that there is a statistically signifi- cant overrepresentation of artists in the county due to this sector’s small size and the data reliability. xiii Stun Bullard. “Area architects are drawing business from everywhere.” Crain’s Cleveland Business. August 18, 2013. xiv The Cleveland MSA includes Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, and Medina counties. xv Data suppression refers to a withholding data requirement that otherwise could be used to identify individual respondents.
18 the visual arts through data
Figure V. VACD Employment and Share of Total Employment in the Cleveland MSA, 2006-2012
8,000 0.90% 0.74% 0.77% 7,800 0.76% 0.75% 0.80% 0.71% 0.72% 0.69% 0.70% 7,600 0.60% 7,400 0.50% 7,200 0.40% 7,000 VACD Employment VACD 0.30%
6,800 0.20% VACD Share of Total Employment Share of Total VACD 6,600 0.10% 7,585 7,812 7,577 7,581 7,468 7,302 6,884 6,400 0.00%
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics Occupational data from Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
Printing and Architecture & Design—two very strong applied the strong leadership of teachers, designers, and business visual arts fields—have a market niche and reputation professionals like Dan Cuffaro—the central figure of this that crosses the county’s boundaries, and growing wages report’s industrial design case study (see Dan Cuffaro: in these sectors approximate healthy labor productivity. Remaking the Regional Economy). The high concentration of visual artists in the area To add a more comprehensive angle to the analysis, we approximates the export capacity for their products. collected VACD sector information by occupation and Research findings support the hypothesis that VACD’s broadened the geography to include the entire Cleveland products are an asset to the economy and increase the MSA xiv due to data availability and suppression. xv Rather standard of living in Cuyahoga County and Cleveland. than merely identifying art industries, this analysis focuses Anecdotal stories testify to the success of these two on occupations, that is, the skills held by members of the sectors in Cleveland. Many architecture businesses have workforce across all industries. While total employment experienced project increases due to funding from outside of the VACD occupations declined over time, the share of the region. K2M Architecture Inc., Westlake Reed of visual artists in the total Cleveland MSA employment Leskosky, Vocon, and RDL Architects Inc. represent a small remained almost unchanged between 2006 and 2011, sampling of such firms.xiii The success of industrial design only slightly declining in 2012 (Figure V). in Cleveland is not only built on a legacy of the region’s native Viktor Schreckengost and supported by educational programs, but is also poised for future growth through
19 the visual arts through data
Figure VI: VACD Median Wage, Cleveland MSA, 2012
Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes $66,610
Commercial and industrial designers $65,280
Art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary $64,900
Architects, except landscape and naval $62,890
Curators $60,950
Multi-media artists and animators $59,610
Art directors $58,670
Landscape architects $53,580 Occupation Painting, coating and decorating workers $49,240
Architectural and civil drafters $45,540
Graphic designers $41,330
Museum technicians and conservators $40,020
Desktop publishers $35,050
Interior designers $32,720
Photographers $25,590 Cleveland MSA Floral designers $25,550 Median Wage $35,070 Photo process workers and photo machine operators $23,440
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers $23,040
Merchandise displays and window trimmers $22,970
$0 $10K $20K $30K $40K $50K $60K $70K Median Wage (2012)
Note: Wages in 2012 dollars. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics; Occupational data from Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
20 the visual arts through data
The data show counts of visual artists as slightly declining The data analysis of the VACD sector sheds light on the from 7,585 in 2006 to 6,884 in 2012. In 2012, there were broader industrial base of visual arts deployment. It also 1,530 people employed as Graphic Designers, the largest illustrates an opportunity for these industrial sectors employment level of all occupations in the Cleveland MSA. and art occupations to contribute to regional economic This occupation is closely followed by Art, Drama, and growth through art-based invention and innovation. The Music teachers, postsecondary, with 1,290 individuals. xvi significant overrepresentation of some art-related industries Additionally, Architects, except Landscape and Naval are in Cleveland also suggests the existence of untapped above 500 jobs. Ultimately, the top three occupations talent that can be realized by growing the local customer out of 27 hold a 48.7% share of all occupations. xvii This base and strengthening exports to new markets. These number reinforces the VACD’s structure as defined in this sectors need to attract people in the county not actively study: about half of the occupations of the visual artists in involved in the local art scene, in addition to broadening Cuyahoga County are employed as teachers, architects, the sector’s customer base nationally and internationally or graphic designers—occupations that are usually by selling products outside of Cuyahoga County. employed by schools, industrial, and commercial sectors of the economy.
Moreover, the study found that the most well-represented VACD occupations pay average wages that are almost twice as high as the Cleveland MSA’s median wage for all industries (Figure VI). Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes had the highest median wage in 2012 ($66,610); however, these wages are attributable to all artists rather than solely to the visual artists. Commercial and industrial designers is the second- highest pay occupational category of visual arts ($65,280) and Architects follow them ($62,890). The latter two are the largest occupational groups of the Cleveland VACD sector.
xvi The data within this occupation include not only VACD-related teachers, but also music and drama teachers. Occupational statistics prohibit obtaining data specifically on VACD-related teachers within this category. xvii For a complete listing of VACD employment by occupation by year for the Cleveland MSA see Appendix Table A.12 at the completed report of this study. 21 “Drift” by Lauren Herzak-Bauman is located prominently behind the reception desk in The Westin Hotel lobby / Photo by Lauren Herzak-Bauman; courtesy of LAND studio xviii There is also a hypothesis of a self-selection bias where older artists had less hesitation to answer the survey feeling confident and well-established while younger artists passed the opportunity to answer survey questions counting their opinion as insignificant.
22 commerce of the visual arts
For a more comprehensive understanding of the industrial and occupational analyses, the study also examined the sector’s supply and demand relationship, as well as its importing and exporting capacity.
Through these mechanisms, the true vitality of the sector this sector were quick to admit that those not immersed is exposed. Furthermore, through surveys, in-person in the Cleveland art scene fail to see its depth and quality, interviews, and focus groups, the team not only examined and, therefore, do not appreciate or purchase it as readily. the supply and demand of the artists, crafters, and designers, The Center also observed the supply of artists entering but also of traded art products. the workforce as approximated by degrees conferred Survey responses revealed local artists’ perceptions of by local colleges and universities. As shown in Table I, the supply and demand of the Cleveland VACD sector as colleges and universities granted 410 degrees in the arts a complex phenomenon. Data analysis indicates a large (music degrees are included in some cases) in 2012, from supply of artists paired with small demand for arts in associate to doctoral degrees. This variety of degrees and Cuyahoga County, and these facts need closer examination. programming is an asset to the Cuyahoga County’s workforce Many of those interviewed by the Center stated there development system and important for replacing artists was a large network of buyers in Cleveland who spent who leave the workforce due to exit and retirement. The a sizeable amount of money on art, but not necessarily Survey of Visual Artists reinforced the importance of having on local art. Additionally, many artists believed that art a steady stream of young artists in the VACD sector, as patrons often sought to purchase art from a Chicago or a majority of respondents to the survey, both amateurs New York artist at twice the price of local artists because and professionals, reported they had been creating art it was “from Chicago” or “from New York.” However, art for more than 20 years. This statistic indicates most artists consumers interviewed for the study pointed out that the were on the mature side of the production cycle, creating Cleveland visual art market offered high quality art that a crucial need for a pipeline of new artists entering the could be purchased at a low cost. All active participants of workforce to sustain the local VACD sector. xviii
Table I. Degrees Conferred in Art in Cuyahoga County, 2008-2012
College/University City of College/University Degree Conferred 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Baldwin-Wallace College* Berea Master 0 65 55 0 0 (now Baldwin Wallace University) Bachelor 69 285 253 70 75 Associate 0 7 1 0 0 Doctorate 2 5 0 0 0 Case Western Reserve University* Cleveland Master 19 20 26 10 20 Bachelor 26 35 32 31 28 Cleveland Institute of Art Cleveland Bachelor 70 108 119 80 88 Master 11 10 18 18 17 Cleveland State University* Cleveland Bachelor 71 92 92 97 82
Cuyahoga Community College* Cleveland Associate 55 45 42 60 54
John Carroll University* Cleveland Bachelor 5 5 4 1 1
Notre Dame College* Cleveland Bachelor 4 1 2 1 6
Virginia Marti College of Fashion and Art Lakewood Associate 59 44 38 33 39
TOTAL (% of All Degrees Conferred) All Degrees 391 722 682 401 410 Conferred (3.9%) (7.0%) (6.2%) (3.5%) (3.6%) 23 Note: * Art and Music degrees conferred. Source: National Center for Education Statistics commerce of the visual arts
However, based on surveys, interviews, and focus groups, focus groups—that a large supply of artists exist in the some artists faced challenges finding their place in the Greater Cleveland area. Again, these findings emphasize a local art scene. Some focus group participants indicated need to broaden the local arts market to create greater that although young artists have a desire to stay in the economic benefits for the region. Cleveland area after graduation to contribute to positive The research team also estimated the supply of art by changes in the region, they confront obstacles when analyzing the ratio of VACD establishments per 10,000 trying to break through the local “guild mentality” in the persons in the region. The Cleveland MSA has the regional art scene. Nonetheless, these budding artists second-highest number of establishments per 10,000 want their voices heard and have the ability to achieve of population (4.46) after Cincinnati (5.17), surpassing their personal goals. Moreover, many young artists spoke Columbus, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh (Table II). xix This of their desire to be active in their community through large number of art establishments indirectly confirms an creating art and expressing themselves. Ultimately, increased earlier finding regarding the significant supply of arts and efforts are needed to link young and new artists with art-related products in the region. Moreover, this figure other artists and buyers of art, and policies should be shows the potential for broadening the local art demand created that encourage new graduates in the Cleveland by widening geography and deepening the demand for area to stay local. previously untapped market niches. The small population- While encouraging new artists to stay in the area has to-establishment ratio affirms the breadth of art product proved somewhat difficult, many artists maintain that they supply in the region. The Cleveland MSA has the second experience significant competition from within Cuyahoga smallest ratio among the MSAs (2,241 residents to one County, as the Survey of Art Fairs and Festivals reveals establishment) compared to the Cincinnati, Columbus, (Figure VII). Specifically, 33% of respondents sensed Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis metropolitan areas. These competition existed from inside Cuyahoga County, and results signify that there are less people creating potential 30% of respondents believed competition existed from demand for every art establishment in the Cleveland outside of Cuyahoga County. These responses support MSA compared to the other regions. The relatively small the observations espoused during the interviews and number of people per art establishment is even more
I do not have enough resources to promote myself Figure VII. Artists’ Perception 2% of Competition in Medium by Location
Significant Not significant competition within competition in my medium from within my medium in Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County 33% 26%
Not enough Venues in my medium in locations feature Cuyahoga County Significant competition my medium in not actively seeking within my medium from Cuyahoga County local artists outside Cuyahoga County 7% 2% 30% n=144 Note: Respondents could select more than one answer Source: Survey of Art Fairs and Festivals
xix This indicator is calculated as number of establishments/(population/10,000).
24 commerce of the visual arts
Table II. Ratio of Persons per VACD Establishment by Comparable MSA, 2010
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) Cleveland, OH Cincinnati, OH Columbus, OH Indianapolis, IN Pittsburgh, PA
Population 2,077,240 1,625,406 1,836,536 1,756,241 2,356,285
No. of Establishments 927 841 691 745 885
Ratio (Persons per Establishment) 2,241 1,933 2,658 2,357 2,662
No. of Establishments per 10,000 4.46 5.17 3.76 4.24 3.76 of Population
Note: Total Population; Establishments derived from primary VACD NAICS only Sources: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Decennial Census; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages problematic if people are not well informed about the category, with Collectors leading the list as the largest variety and quality of local art—another challenge noted category (24%) (Figure VIII). These results indicate a by some focus group participants. desirable diversity in the customer base, pointing to a well-rounded regional demand for art and signifying the While examining further mechanisms of the art market, important role art plays in social life. They also suggest we asked owners of galleries and shops to describe their that strategies aimed at increasing demand for art should customers by art enthusiast type: Collector, Patron/Investor, take the diversity of buyers into account and thus design Occasional Buyer, Art for Decoration, and Other. Overall, programs to appeal to the various types of art buyers. responses split almost equally, practically one fifth to each
Figure VIII. Description of Customer Base
Regular Customers Patrons Only Visitors Other Collector 16% 24%
Art for Decoration Patron/Investor 20% 20%
Occasional Buyer 22%
n=51 Note: Respondents could select more than one answer Source: Survey of Art Galleries
25 commerce of the visual arts
Figure IX. Amount of Money Earned Per Art Display, All Respondents
$2,000 Less than $99 $100 - $249 $250 - $499 $500 - $999 $1,000 - $1,999 -$2,999
Sales in Cuyahoga 21% 18% 16% 14% 15% 7% 6% County
1%
3% Sales Outside of Cuyahoga 12% 12% 18% 6% 18% 15% 6% 12% County
$3,000 Over -$3,999 $5,000 $4,000 -$4,999
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Percentage of Respondents
An important component of the supply and demand structure is the region’s import and export of the visual arts. Arts are imported into the region in various ways, predominantly through art purchases by large corporations and major institutions. For example, Progressive Insurance, artwork from local artists, the opportunity to market local headquartered in Mayfield Heights, has a collection of art to out-of-region corporations and even to international more than 7,500 pieces, including works from across the corporate bodies should not be ignored. xxi While the globe, which makes it one of the largest collections of its International Directory of Corporate Art Collectors kind in the world. However, the crown jewel of the visual claims about 1,500 corporations in the world possess art world in Cleveland is undoubtedly the Cleveland art collections, Shirley Reiff Howarth, the editor of the Museum of Art. The museum opened in 1916 and, in its directory, was cited in a recent publication, claiming, “since almost 100-year history, has amassed a collection of 2000, the percentage of collections listed as ‘ongoing,’ almost 45,000 pieces covering 6,000 years of artwork. xx or still being added to, has dropped from 55 percent to While this report focuses on local businesses buying about 40 percent. Many corporations are limiting new purchases for new buildings, expansions or renovations.” xxii Therefore, Cuyahoga County artists should actively participate in selling their art to corporations and also develop new means to export it.
xx See http://www.clevelandart.org/about/press/general-museum-information for more details. xxi International Art Alliance is a publisher of the International Directory of Corporate Art Collections. Source: http://www.internationalartalliance. org/selling_art_to_corporations.html. xxii Ula Ilnytzky, “Corporations do more to put art on public display.” Associated Press, September 6, 2013.
26 commerce of the visual arts
Figure X. Role Gallery/Shop Plays in VACD
Promotors of Art Exhibitors of Art Exporters of Importers Other 31% 27% Art of Art 12% 16% 14% Role in VACD
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
n=49 Source: Survey of Art Galleries 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
The sale of art to large corporations is a profitable, but rare, opportunity for the majority of local artists. Instead, most artists rely on sales during art fairs and shows in- and outside of Cuyahoga County. Selling art in Cuyahoga County requires less travel expenses and provides a bulk of financial support for local artists due to convenience. Survey of Artists said they sell their work in Cuyahoga The average amount of money per local art transaction, County; 13% sold work in Northeast Ohio, 8% in Ohio, however, is smaller when compared to the sales made 16% in the U.S., and 7% internationally. In addition, the outside of the region. Figure IX illustrates a comparison Survey of Visitors at Art Fairs and Festivals reported of art sold in- and outside of the region by price bracket. that 30% of the respondents attended events outside of For example, 21% of art in Cuyahoga County is sold for Cuyahoga County, exporting local art to their hometown. less than $99, while only 12% of art outside of the region sells for this price. At the same time, only 7% of art sold Consequently, this finding implies that local art is more in Cuyahoga County is in the $2,000 - $2,999 price range, appreciated outside regional boundaries where customers while more than twice that (15%) is sold outside of might not possess a bias against “local” art. the region. Greater opportunities for art sales outside of the Exporting art is more profitable; many Cleveland artists sell Cuyahoga County region also exist due to the digitalization their products both outside of the region and worldwide. of the market. The Internet has provided shops and art Thirty-eight percent (38%) of artists responding to the galleries with both new opportunities and difficulties. These opportunities allow them to reach new consumers across the globe, but also challenge retailers to keep their physical locations open. Shops and galleries play several roles in the VACD sector, with a strong emphasis on the supportive nature of the region’s art community (Figure X).
27 commerce of the visual arts
Overall, the research shows that shops and galleries understand what it takes to survive. Sixty-three percent (63%) of respondents saw an increase in sales over the last three years, but for many of them success did not come easy. Some businesses were hit hard during the recession, but experienced growth during the last two years, recovering those losses. The other 40% experienced either flat or declining sales and indicated that it has been a challenging period for art galleries and shops. To build business beyond brick and mortar locations, 62% of galleries and shops use the Internet as a digital marketplace, illustrating the Internet’s increasingly significant role for art consumption.
Regional artists must continue to prioritize quality to facilitate the exportation of their products. When galleries owners were asked if local art quality had improved over the last three years, 70% of respondents said “Yes.” In all, the region’s VACD sector demonstrates considerable sustainability in both the import and, perhaps more importantly, export of local artwork. These figures are an indirect testament to the well-established character of the sector, its high quality, and continued innovation. Meanwhile, focus group respondents pointed to the challenge that not a single regional gallery is a broker in major international art shows like the Armory Show (New York, NY) or Art Basel (Miami, FL).
Both the challenges of digitalization and galleries’ new roles as both art promoters and exhibitors testify to a paradigm shift in the VACD sector similar to the changes experienced by the music sector in the previous decade. However, this shift does not diminish the fact that Cleveland artists are living in a vibrant, exciting, growing, and talented visual art environment (Figure XI) that needs to overcome the obstacles of art supply overcrowding and local buyer underestimation.
28 Figure XI. Respondent Words to Classify the Arts Scene Vital Infancy Affordable Struggling Do it yourself Creative Renewing Diverse Ambitious Struggle with identity Improving Committed Healthy Developing
Constantly changing Lack of knowledge alented
ActiveT VibrantArts neighborhoods move around Disconnected City of magic
Up and coming active Very Needs a uniform front Growing interest Art buyers here Good arts scene rowing Lacking attention Disappointing G
ExcitingGetting stronger Not huge Glass blowing demo from Davenci Glass at the Cleveland Mini Maker Faire produced by Ingenuity and the Cleveland Public Library / Photo by Frank Lanza 30 Economic impact of visual arts
The VACD sector is linked to other industries through buy-sell relationships that contribute to the overall economic impact of the sector. To provide goods and services, companies in this sector buy goods and services from other companies both in and outside the VACD sector.
This report measures five impacts of the VACD on Cuyahoga County: employment, labor income, output, value added, and taxes. Employment measures the number of jobs in Ohio due to spending in the sector. Labor income refers to payroll paid to employees plus proprietors’ the total economic impact of the VACD sector accounted income. Value added measures the value of goods and for 17,844 jobs (Table III). Fifty-four percent (54%) of services less the intermediary goods and represents a these jobs made a direct effect; in other words, there portion of output—often referred to as Gross Domestic were 9,707 people directly employed by Cuyahoga Product. Output measures the total value of goods and County’s VACD sector. Another 25% of all impact created services produced in Cuyahoga County because of in employment constituted the indirect effect. This represents spending in the VACD sector. Taxes include federal, 4,460 jobs in the supply-chain industries of the VACD state, and local tax revenues. sector, which are industries that sell their products and services to art industries for the production of visual arts. The spending and employment of the VACD sector Lastly, 21% of the total employment impact reflects the assessed for the modeling in 2013 includes 9,707 direct induced effect. In other words, 3,677 jobs exist across employees, $478 million in direct employee compensation, many sectors and industries due to purchases people and $993,136 revenue in sales at art events. As a result, make from the salaries they earn either from direct
employment in the VACD sector or by being employed
in the industries supplying the VACD sector in
Cuyahoga County.
Table III: Economic Impact of the Cleveland VACD Sector (by Direct, Indirect, and Induced Impacts), 2013
Impact Type Employment Labor Income Value Added Output Tax
Direct Effect 9,707 $491,254,691 $760,047,355 $1,794,410,357 $135,415,475
Indirect Effect 4,460 $269,272,489 $412,907,991 $639,315,215 $75,721,066
Induced Effect 3,677 $174,389,430 $297,455,644 $469,642,477 $62,750,114
Total Effect 17,844 $934,916,610 $1,470,410,990 $2,903,368,049 $273,886,655
31 economic impact of visual arts
The true economic impact of VACD sector can be Additionally, for each dollar earned as labor income in assessed by calculating how the rest of the economy will the VACD sector, there is an additional $0.90 created in grow if we increase the final demand in the VACD sector other sectors. For each dollar in value added, there is an by one unit (one job or one dollar of labor income, for additional $0.93 created in value added by other sectors example). That is, for each employee that works in the of the economy; for each dollar in output, there is an VACD sector, an additional 0.84 jobs are created outside of additional $0.62 created in output; and for each dollar in the sector through the VACD’s supply chain and increase taxes, there is an additional $1.02 created in tax impact in purchasing power of VACD and supply industry (Table IV second line). employees (induced and indirect effects) ( Table IV top The largest VACD subsector in terms of all measures of line). In other words, for every 10 jobs that exist in the total impact (employment, labor income, value added, VACD sector, more than eight other jobs exist in other output, and taxes) was Printing (Figure XII), which has the sectors of Cuyahoga County’s economy because of the largest employment in this subsector in Cuyahoga VACD sector. Furthermore, for each employee added in County. xxiii The Architects; Jewelry; Photography; and Education, the VACD sector, there is an additional $96,428 created Health, and Museums subsectors rounded out the top five in labor income, an additional $151,725 created in value in terms of total employment impact. The Glass; Events; added, an additional $299,718 created in output, and an Amateur Artists; Metal, Stone, and Wood subsectors all had additional $28,264 created in taxes. an impact of less than 100 employees.
Table IV: Impact per Employee and per $1 of Labor Income
Employment Labor Income Value Added Output TaxNo. of Estab
Per Employee 1.84 $96,428 $151,725 $299,718 $28,264
Per $1 of Labor Income 0.84 $0.90 $0.93 $0.62 $1.02
Figure XII: Employment Impact by VACD Subsector, 2012 Photography Other 4% 5% Education, Health & Museums 5%
Jewelry 5% Other includes: Amateur Artists; Textiles; Glass; Metal; Stone & Wood; Artists; and Events. Architect 18% Printing 63%
32 economic impact of visual arts
In terms of labor income, Printing remains the largest impact, the second-highest category was the Architects subsector, followed by Architects; Photography; Jewelry; subsector again, followed by Photography; Education, and Education, Health, and Museums (Table V). In the Health, and Museums; and Jewelry. Finally, in terms of tax value-added impact category, the second-highest was impact, Printing was the highest subsector, followed by the Architects subsector, followed by Photography; Education, Architects; Jewelry; Photography; and Education, Health, Health, and Museums; and Amateur Artists. In output and Museums.
Table V: Economic Impact of the Cleveland VACD Sector by Subsector, 2012
Subsector Employment Labor Income Value Added Output TaxNo. of Estab
Artists 40 $1,017,240 $1,557,151 $3,629,570 $272,982
Architects 3,165 $176,736,452 $248,555,309 $412,788,499 $45,943,500
Education, Health 808 $34,059,436 $62,575,338 $104,094,599 $11,093,356 & Museums
Glass 97 $5,563,753 $8,484,188 $19,144,950 $1,660,008
Jewelry 953 $34,435,287 $57,310,663 $66,939,322 $17,210,805
Metal, Stone & Wood 85 $4,846,948 $6,176,487 $13,690,445 $1,200,925
Photography 801 $38,662,126 $69,409,590 $170,089,666 $12,895,627
Printing 11,294 $621,242,204 $990,514,721 $2,073,083,373 $177,812,398
Textiles 266 $5,414,748 $7,927,612 $8,708,136 $2,595,362
Amateur Artists 320 $12,335,405 $17,060,455 $29,759,591 $3,041,396
Events 15 $603,011 $839,476 $1,439,898 $160,296
Total 17,844 $934,916,610 $1,470,410,990 $2,903,368,049 $273,886,655
xxiii Cleveland is a home to a large cluster of printing companies accounting for 173 business establishments. Employment in these companies totals to 5,567 people, including American Greetings, which employs about 2,000 workers alone, according to The Plain Dealer, March 26, 2014. (http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/03/construction_begins_in_april_o.html). Another example is Angstrom Graphics, known in Cleveland by its previous name, St. Eves PlC, which employs 564 people in Cleveland and Florida, according to Crain’s Cleveland Business. (http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20090209/FREE/902069931). For more information on the Printing subsector, see Chapter 1 of the study report, “Typology and Trend Analysis of the Cleveland VACD Sector.”
33 Jakprints lobby on Chester Avenue, Cleveland, OH / Photo courtesy of Jakprints Inc.
Printing Subsector The Printing subsector had the greatest overall economic Additionally, Printing represents 66% of the VACD labor impact out of all other categories. The direct employment income ($621M), 67% of the value-added impact impact was 5,567 jobs, the indirect employment impact ($991M), 71% of the output impact ($2.1B), and 65% of was 3,278 jobs, and the induced employment impact the tax impact ($178M). This subsector includes some was 2,449 jobs—11,294 jobs in this subsector alone larger export-based Cuyahoga County employers and (Table VI). Thus, Printing represents 63% of the total represents many small- and medium-sized firms that serve employment impact in the VACD subsector. the local population.
Table VI: Economic Impact of Printing Sector
Impact Type Employment Labor Income Value Added Output TaxNo. of Estab
Direct Effect 5,567 $302,152,663 $479,750,581 $1,276,800,275 $78,857,571
Indirect Effect 3,278 $202,963,404 $312,687,242 $483,517,841 $57,169,157
Induced Effect 2,449 $116,126,137 $198,076,898 $312,765,257 $41,785,670
Total Effect 11,294 $621,242,204 $990,514,721 $2,073,083,373 $177,812,398
34 “Crooked River Skatepark Shade Shelter” by TOI Studio / Responding to a short listed call for artists the Crooked River Skatepark Shade Shelter will be constructed in Fall 2014 at Rivergate Park on the Cuyahoga. The shelter, reminiscent of industrial themes, creates a playful homage to the contextual history of Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River Valley. A series of twisted rigid frames oriented to block the summer sun, create a protected respite, provide seating and mark the entrance to the skate park.”
Architecture Subsector The Architecture subsector had the second-largest economic Additionally, the Architecture subsector represents 28% of impact in Cuyahoga County. This subsector includes both the VACD labor income ($177M), 25% of the value-added population-serving and export-based businesses in the impact ($249M), 20% of the output impact ($413M), and county. The direct employment impact was 1,890 jobs, 26% of the tax impact ($46M). the indirect employment impact was 584 jobs, and the Although these measures illustrate the significant induced employment impact was 691 jobs (Table VII). economic impact of the visual arts, overcoming challenges These subcategories result in a total employment impact of the Cleveland VACD sector could lead to even greater of 3,165 jobs for this subsector, which represents 28% of economic benefits, adding to the future vitality of the the total employment in the VACD sector. regional visual art scene.
Table VII: Economic Impact of Architecture Sector
Impact Type Employment Labor Income Value Added Output Tax
Direct Effect 1,890 $111,887,800 $145,926,036 $253,318,908 $25,714,565
Indirect Effect 584 $32,097,003 $46,765,284 $71,261,402 $8,444,117
Induced Effect 691 $32,751,649 $55,863,989 $88,208,189 $11,784,818
Total Effect 3,165 $176,736,452 $248,555,309 $412,788,499 $45,943,500
35 Rising Star Coffee Roasters in Hingetown; Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland / Photo by Jacob Smith 36 cleveland’s vacd sector challenges and opportunities
The Cleveland Visual Arts, Craft, and Design (VACD) sector study’s purpose is to catalyze discussion on the challenges and opportunities facing the VACD, which often go unacknowledged by artists and sector representatives.
Cleveland has a significant visual arts history rooted lowest among comparable regions (see the section of in strong traditions and supported by an institutional Art Commerce earlier in this executive summary). This base comprised of a myriad of companies and artists. figure accounts for the smaller customer base for each Throughout the last six decades, the city of Cleveland and art establishment and informs the overall consumer-base Cuyahoga County have lost population. The decline of shortage in the region. The limited consumer base also population paired with the latest Great Recession has stems from the bias against “local” art in the Cuyahoga exacerbated the challenge of a scarce consumer base region, in that many art consumers prefer to make when compared to the existing visual arts scene. purchases from art-branded cities like New York or Los Angeles. The county’s visual art audience needs to be Nonetheless, Cleveland is a city in transition. Many artists broadened in the local sector by involving residents not prefer to stay local after graduation and some even move currently engaged with the VACD sector or these events, to Cleveland. Many graduates choose Cleveland not only in addition to bringing more tourists into the region. because the city is affordable, but also because they want to play a part in the city’s revitalization. This revival touches Various challenges face the VACD sector in expanding all areas: the economy, surrounding neighborhoods, and the consumer base: art locations are widely dispersed, the aesthetics of the city. Artists want to participate in there is a lack of communication among artists, a need for this evolution by harnessing their creative energies to higher visibility for visual arts in- and outside of the region, produce art. and the artist business model does not always coincide with traditional small businesses strategies. Additionally, Consumer Base Expansion the Cleveland VACD sector is facing challenges that are This study’s targeted area is limited to Cuyahoga County, characteristic to the sector nationally. which encompasses studio and applied visual arts, crafts, and design. The biggest challenge identified in the study Art Neighborhoods was the limited consumer base for visual arts products. Cleveland is home to many neighborhoods where artists, Multiple venues and events that sell art, including art community partners, and arts and culture organizations galleries, shows, and fairs, often compete for the same share extensive histories of working together to impact customers from the region. Many focus group participants economic and community development outcomes. mentioned that they see “the same faces” at various art The Grassroots Nature and Authenticity of events across the area and depict the limited consumer Cleveland’s Art Neighborhoods base as a “competition for audience.” Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood is one of the first The lack of customers can also be described as an over- neighborhoods in Cleveland to witness a rebirth through supply of visual arts and their products. The quantitative the cultivation and growth of its arts and culture assets— findings support this characterization since Cleveland’s a resurgence decades in the making. Thanks to the creative ratio of population per art establishment is the second nature of Tremont’s residents and many grassroots
37 cleveland’s vacd sector challenges and opportunities
efforts, the neighborhood is a crown jewel among produce stronger regional amenities for Cleveland’s Cleveland’s many art-based neighborhoods. The residents and visitors. Although this neighborhood’s neighborhood’s success as a true representation of development led to some artists having to leave the area creative placemaking is thoroughly discussed in the case due to price increases, this neighborhood experienced study, Tremont: Creative Placekeeping. revitalization through art. Ultimately, many neighborhoods throughout the city that were once in decline are now In the early 1980s, low real estate prices created an recovering because of the region’s high density of artists. opportunity for artists to purchase homes and studios in which they could live and work. Later, once Tremont Neighborhood Revitalization became trendy and, subsequently, more gentrified, it no Another area experiencing rejuvenation is Cleveland’s St. longer possessed affordable housing or workspaces for Clair Superior neighborhood, which is making a name for artists. Nonetheless, Tremont remains a popular venue for itself by finding value where others see waste. The St. Clair residents who want to be close to downtown, as well as Superior: Creative Reuse case study illustrates how empty to art and entertainment destinations. Tremont signifies two-liter soda bottles, unwanted vinyl flooring remnants, a valuable lesson in art neighborhood sustainability, as discarded sterile packaging material, and abandoned multiple comments by focus group participants attest. two-story homes are creating a path to revitalization through repurposing thanks to the Upcycle St. Clair Project. To sustain an art neighborhood, collaboration is required This renewal exemplifies Cleveland’s truly historic route from citizens, local government, and grassroots organizations. toward re-establishing itself as one of America’s strongest This collective effort might include considering a unique cities. While other cities are still in the planning stages of physical infrastructure that can become an asset for renewal, Cleveland is putting ideas into action. This city creative businesses—key to art neighborhoods. The truly embodies “Rust Belt chic”: beautiful neighborhood capacity and uniqueness of each art neighborhood should architecture, streets populated with high quality art, and be combined with efforts to coordinate assets across artists who are humble to the point of deprecation, but neighborhoods and stakeholders, aligning them in a way who are ultimately tough and talented. that will create a continuous experience for visitors. More visibility for the local population and cultural tourists One such artist is Scott Colosimo, the primary subject of would strengthen these areas as art destinations. the Cleveland CycleWerks: Starting Up case study says: “I’ve lived so many places. Cleveland has a unique quality.” That Collaborative efforts are essential to enhancing the “unique quality” is what led him to include “Cleveland” regional consumer base through art neighborhoods and in the name of his business: “For me, there was no should include participation in youth educational programs other name for the company.” Beyond simply capturing that develop young residents’ taste for art; provide business the image of the city in his company’s name, he wanted advice to artists; and coordinate regional artists on art to capture the strengths of its people. Colosimo moved events, shows, community days, and other fairs. Another back to Cleveland after living in other cities because “no case study presented in this report, CAN Journal: Pressing one does anything for themselves [in other cities],” he for Change, represents an example of coordinating says. In Cleveland, “we were able to hire good people— efforts among art organizations that has spurred a people who can actually do things. They can work with collective publication and leveraged an economy of scale computers and their hands.” for marketing within the art sector. While cooperative efforts should be organized, artists also gave a note of He moved his business to another young art neighbor- caution to avoid “over planning” to such an extent that hood around Gordon Square in the Detroit-Shoreway the nature of the grassroots movement is stymied. Neighborhood. The building has more space than Colosimo envisions for his Cleveland operations, so he Tremont successfully demonstrated that when neighborhoods is hoping to attract other entrepreneurs and innovators focus on their unique assets they not only improve the into a shared production environment “to rent out space lives of residents, but, over the long-term, they ultimately to artists and businesses doing interesting things.” He
38 cleveland’s vacd sector challenges and opportunities believes the investment in and energy around Gordon decentralized visual arts city—demonstrates that “new Square should help with attracting workers, renters, cultural capacity can stabilize and revitalize neighborhoods and customers. without displacing lower income and long-time residents while increasing diversity in participation.” xxvi To increase These examples not only illustrate neighborhood the customer base, we must engage the local consumer revitalization, but also signify the strength of Cleveland’s base and cultural tourists by better informing them about character. Citizens are mobilizing to revitalize the city art opportunities. Many know about the famous University through the contributions of artists, products sold by Circle—one of the most concentrated square miles of vendors, and purchases by art consumers. Cleveland arts and culture in the nation and home to more than needs to keep this effort strong by creating more 20 artistic and cultural venues, including the Cleveland opportunities for visual artists, designers, crafters, and Museum of Art, MOCA Cleveland, Cleveland Institute architects, in addition to garnering more recognition of Art, and Severance Hall— xxvii but it is important to by the city and other regional governments to secure expand cultural horizons beyond the obvious. financial resources to support the VACD sector. Lack of Communication Dispersed Location of the Visual Art Scene There are two types of major communication deficiencies The uniqueness of Cleveland’s multiple visual arts in the Cleveland art scene: the lack of communication neighborhoods is also a challenge. The various separate between visual arts players and organizations and the locations of the visual arts scene create an obstacle for absence of a collective message regarding the arts cultural tourists wanting to visit multiple locations but scene, locally and beyond. Speaking with the focus group properly oriented to what amenities each neighborhood participants uncovered these communication challenges, has to offer. All focus group participants admitted that including the absence of consistent “Arts” sections in Cleveland art neighborhoods create a unique flavor, and local newspapers. The key word here is “consistent,” as each should be experienced in a different way. Some participants emphasized that local newspapers and other participants posited that a central art district would make printed media select particular art events and gallery the VACD sector more accessible to tourists and thus openings to highlight but ignore the sector’s depth. On broaden the customer base. However, other participants the other hand, a consistent column or section would not opposed this idea, arguing that many neighborhoods have only advertise the artwork or event, it would educate the overcome this geographic dispersion through “art hops,” public in visual arts, get people excited about new events, which provide trolley tours through multiple arts and, ideally, spur broader interest in the local art scene, neighborhoods on certain weekends. leading to an expanded audience. Furthermore, case studies in academic literature show the There is also a lack of communication among neighborhoods benefits of decentralized art districts like Chicagoxxiv and that goes beyond just coordinating the dates of major art Silicon Valley. xxv These case studies support the view that events. Some neighborhoods are better connected to decentralizing the arts sector correlates with expanded economic development organizations than others and are participation in the arts. Moreover, Philadelphia—another
xxiv Wali, A., Severson, R., & Longoni, M. (2002). Informal arts: Finding cohesion, capacity and other cultural benefits in unexpected places. Chicago: Chicago Center for Arts Policy at Columbia College. & Wali, A., Contractor, N., Green, H., Mason, S., Severson, R., McClure, H., & Ostergaard, J. (2006). Artistic, cultural and social network assets of recent Mexican immigrants in Chicago. In American Collegiate Schools of Planning Annual Meetings, Ft. Worth, TX, November. xxv Alvarez, M. (2005). There’s nothing informal about it: Participatory arts within the cultural ecology of Silicon Valley. San Jose, CA: Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley. & Moriarty, P. (2004). Immigrant participatory arts: An insight into community-building in Silicon Valley. San Jose, CA: Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley. xxviStern, M., & Seifert, S. (1998). Community revitalization and the arts in Philadelphia. University of Pennsylvania, Social Impact of the Arts Project. & Markusen, A., & Gadwa, A. (2010). Arts and culture in urban or regional planning: A review and research agenda. Journal of planning education and research, 29 (3), 379-391. xxviiLeif Pettersen. “10 best city art districts around the USA.” Special for USA TODAY. May 9, 2014. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/ experience/america/best-of-lists/2014/05/07/10-best-city-art-districts-around-the-usa/8807535/. 39 therefore able to create marketing messages about their this report). art events more efficiently. However, all neighborhoods In resolving communication challenges, questions posed want to be a part of a larger, multifaceted visual art scene. by focus groups’ participants need to be answered: This extended view of the Cleveland VACD sector could Who should participate on behalf of neighborhoods help align neighborhoods through their unique qualities in coordination efforts? How can we find a consensus and create a tourist roadmap to increase participation in among multiple players that are eager and hungry for local arts among both Clevelanders and cultural tourists. customers? Should there be a separate entity created Consequently, the Collective Arts Network (CAN) Journal to collectively promote a bigger picture of the sector? was born from a need for communication and exposure. Who will fund such an entity? Facing these questions CAN also realized that the most powerful way for the is necessary to overcome not only informational and arts and culture sector to attract attention and elevate communication insufficiencies, but also the multiple the voices of artists and organizations lacking an effective challenges of a changing art market landscape. platform for promoting their work was through cooperation (see the “CAN Journal: Pressing for Change” case study in
The Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gallery One / This 40-foot Collection Wall allows visitors to shape their own tours of the museum and to discover the full breadth of the collections on view throughout the museum’s galleries. It is the largest multi-touch screen in the United States, and displays images of over 3,500 objects from the museum’s world-renowned permanent collection / Photo by Seth Beattie 40 Sector in Transition: Changing Landscape of the Art Market
The visual arts sector needs to adjust to the new realities of the information era to enhance the dissemination of its products.
The digital marketplace expands the accessibility of art for people from all over the world. However, digitalization also creates challenges for artists in demanding more time and effort developing skills for producing digital images of their art and sharing them on the Internet. Artists should embrace these opportunities and overcome development, digital marketing and sales, and building a difficulties by adjusting their marketing and sales techniques. customer base. Nonetheless, artists also indicated that Furthermore, the digital marketplace will also require the small scale of their business operations often prevents business models to evolve in terms of how individual artists outsourcing these functions to another person. and galleries mediate between artists and the public. Individual artists are not only the ones who need to In addition to adjusting to the digital market, art galleries embrace the growing influence of the digital marketplace. must also adapt to a new generation of customers who Online sales are also changing the gallery environment, prefer to experience art rather than merely collect it. strengthening them as centers of expertise (both online Broadening access to the visual arts through digitalization and at the physical location), in addition to evolving them expands the concept of public art, which presents yet into powerhouses for devoted collectors. Concurrently, another challenge for the visual art sector. “Public art” has the Internet provides access to a broader range of art evolved to include artwork displayed in public places like experiences, which appeals to consumers, especially streets, parks, and public buildings, as well as any art piece younger ones who are less likely to buy artwork. Artists accessible online for viewing as a public good. All of and art galleries must make the digital transition to these challenges are changing the art market landscape enhance sales and capture the attention of new and require new business models and more support consumers to succeed economically. opportunities for individual artists. The Small Business of Visual Artists Digital Products Digitalization as a means of selling art is not the only chal- Although many artists, particularly those working in lenge confronting artists. Some artists admitted that often architectural and computer design fields, welcome the they feel uncomfortable selling their products because addition of the digital marketplace, some artists remain their work is such a large component of their identity as reluctant to learn new computer skills and integrate individuals and members of society. As one of the focus digital components into their business models. In focus group participants stated, “Art isn’t a commodity, it’s an groups and individual interviews, artists indicated that experience. It’s about engaging the person and the art.” creating art is the main focus for an artist, and that Subsequently, artists care less about profiting from sales someone else should be responsible for website and more about establishing a name for themselves by engaging people through their artwork.
However, to support their work, artists must secure
financing for their business. Part of establishing a viable
business involves creating a unique identity for their products,
41 sector in transition: changing landscape of the art market
constructing a financial and marketing strategy, and developing a customer base. For Cleveland VACD sector artists, developing a customer base outside of the region is essential due to the small customer base in the region. Furthermore, becoming a successful artist and managing a financially sustainable small business often means diversifying The Millennial Generation one’s activities across teaching, tutoring, and writing. To Digitalization is changing the VACD sector not only in augment their art business, artists participate in local and terms of information dissemination, but also due to the regional mentoring or residency projects, as well as public preferences of the next generation of customers. The art projects, to increase earnings and exposure. Millennial Generation is a demographic cohort of about 80 million people born between the early 1980s and the An artist is rarely regarded as a small-business owner in early 2000s. Now entering adulthood, they constitute the the conventional sense. For example, while traditional largest buying power in the economy, or what is referred local small businesses are supported, at least partially, to as, “the participation economy.” This demographic is through “Buy Local” marketing campaigns, art-based small characterized by “people [who] are their own medium, businesses are often overlooked. Additionally, artists are their own creation. This generation today is the ‘creative.’ regularly asked to donate their art for fundraisers, which …They want to interact. Measure ‘Return to Involvement’ undermines their earning potential. In contrast with other not ‘Return to Investment.’” xxviii In other words, Millennials small businesses, artwork seems less valuable than other prefer to experience art rather than collect it. Even if products or services provided by non-art establishments. they want to purchase a piece of art, they want their Moreover, selling donated art pieces through fundraising input reflected in the piece, often asking that specific often dilutes the work’s worth. These financial sustainability color, shape, size, and design be fit to their tastes. Taking challenges need to be addressed by the community to consumer input into account when creating artwork is a support the visual arts in Cleveland. decided challenge to artists whose art is a part of them. Art Galleries Jeff Fromm and Christine Garton also trace the Some art galleries in the Cleveland region and around characteristics of new consumers: “Not willing to be the country closed their doors due to sector challenges passive consumers any longer, this generation wants to and the Great Recession. With an aging collectors population, actively participate, co-create, and, most important, be there are new audiences who want to experience— included as partners in the brands they love. Often, the rather than purchase—high quality art by enjoying it in co-creation process begins with the product or service galleries and museums. Some artists acknowledge this design, includes the customer journey or shopping experience, shift and believe that just having their work exposed in an and is more easily seen [heightens the visibility] in the art gallery brings merit. marketing and social media space closer to the end of the Some artists only desire public exposure, either though marketing cycle.” xxix Visual artists should recognize this galleries or public places such as restaurants, corporate shift in the market and adjust to it. offices, or retail stores. Meanwhile, other artists are reluctant Public Art to exhibit their work in places other than galleries for Public art became a focus of public policy as a response two main reasons: sometimes it is not possible to exhibit to the growing need for art exposure. Moreover, public an art piece that requires special installment, lighting, or art can become a powerful tool to spur community background; and sometimes artists prefer the cultural conversations, redefine the look of a community, and capital of an art gallery to other, more overtly commercial, even revitalize a neighborhood. public places. “Public art in the most traditional sense is the insertion
of beautiful and meaningful structures” into public spaces,
says Terry Schwarz, director of Kent State University’s
42 sector in transition: changing landscape of the art market
Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC) and Even if the evaluation of public art was agreeable to all contributor to the “Public Art: Placemaking in Action” members, compensation for the artist participating in case study in this report. Despite public art’s abstract the process remains a difficulty. Artists spend significant and porous nature, it represents a powerful tool for time writing proposals, preparing a model, presenting the placemaking by sparking community dialogue, nurturing project, and participating in an approval process which, in community potential, and helping residents envision new the end, might lead to insufficient financial support when uses for old spaces. compared to the time an artist has spent on the whole process. Corporations and the public have created even greater momentum for public art. These stakeholders desire All of these challenges affect the visual sector at large and access to public spaces and want to experience unique the Cleveland VACD sector in particular, and require a art as a public good by displaying artwork in public and substantial discussion on future public policies for the arts. private buildings, including, restaurants, hospitals, and retail stores. Furthermore, in focus group discussions, public art projects were identified as financially viable venues for artists. This broader movement toward making art a public good creates certain difficulties. One challenge is reaching a consensus when evaluating public art prior to approving it for public display. Often, artists and the public disagree on the judges who are selected to evaluate public art projects, the amount of power given to a funder of public art, and how provocative or controversial public art should be.
These challenges coincide with another interviewee of the public art case study, Amy Callahan, director of Waterloo Arts (formerly Arts Collinwood). Amy mentioned that she did not want to “pick” at the art while overseeing and watching Zoetic Walls xxx come to life, a project of ten murals painted by various local, national, and international artists on buildings around Collinwood. “To me, that sort of ends up killing the energy that is so positive,” she says. “I’m OK not loving everything.” The idea of “not loving everything” often leads to public conversation and debate that can ultimately lead to dialogue among residents about their neighborhood, and specifically, about reimagining old, forgotten, or otherwise undesirable spaces.
xxviii “Kevin Roberts: Brands Are Dead. Welcome to the Participation Economy.” Published by Bill George Leadership Team. October 6, 2009. http:// www.billgeorge.org/page/kevin-roberts-brands-are-dead--welcome-to-the-participation-economy. xxix Jeff Fromm and Christine Garton “Marketing to Millennials: Reach the Largest and Most Influential Generation of Consumers Ever” New York: AMACOM, American Management Association, 2013. P.8 xxx See http://artscollinwood.org/zoetic-walls/ about this program. 43 Art & Soul of Buckeye Park Festival / Photo courtesy of LAND Studio xxxi Markusen, A., & Gadwa, A. (2010). Arts and culture in urban or regional planning: A review and research agenda. Journal of planning education and research, 29(3), 379-391. xxxii Markusen, A., & Gadwa, A. (2010). Arts and culture in urban or regional planning: A review and research agenda. Journal of planning education and research, 29(3), 379-391. xxxiii San Francisco Arts Task Force. (2006). Findings and recommendations. San Francisco.
4444 Public Policy for Arts and Culture in Other Cities
To resolve challenges the VACD sector should continue to innovate, and the best way to support this process is learning from the experiences of other visual artists in other metropolises.
Many cities, like Cleveland, study their visual art sector and develop various policies and tools to strengthen it by promoting arts and culture, by providing specific services to artists, and by emphasizing public arts to ensure future consumption of art.
Promotion of Arts and Culture by Local Governments
Local governments approach support for arts and culture in a variety of ways. Citywide art funds from dedicated taxes exist in Los Angeles and San Francisco for the funding of both specific public facilities like museums, as well as for grant programs targeted at artists and arts organizations. Other cities and regions look to so-called cultural tax City planning departments, though not explicitly linked to districts, for example, the Cuyahoga Arts & Culture grants, arts and culture, are often the source of the regulatory which were funded through a local cigarette excise tax. tools that both enable and hamper the evolution of an Most cities engage in public arts programming, whether arts scene. Strict zoning laws, such as those in Minneapolis, by commissioning public art projects or supporting cultural inhibit the development of the live/work spaces that events. A few cities subsidize the arts by encouraging are typically associated with artist districts. Additionally, residential/professional buildings through land and vacant cultural policies are often overlooked, either by accident building renovations. Some cities also engage in cultural or misunderstanding, when considering land use. Though plans, or otherwise explicitly include cultural components many cities devote the majority of their arts and cultural when undertaking master-planning processes. To meet commitments to large institutions, some cities, like these needs, larger cities such as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, have placed an emphasis on neighborhood- Los Angeles have created Cultural Affairs Departments. In based centers. xxxii smaller jurisdictions like Minneapolis, however, this work In 2006, the San Francisco Arts Task Force looked at the is typically found within economic development agencies complex web of agencies and funding for the arts. The possessing a broader scope. xxxi Task Force suggested a reconfiguration and consolidation
of the arts support system to streamline and coordinate
funding. Large cities with big cultural affairs departments
require immense budgets. However, smaller cities have
taken a more flexible approach, with smaller community
partnerships that bring together the public and private
sectors able to transcend bureacratic quagmires and
foster arts-driven revitalization. xxxiii
45 sample arts and culture public policies Featured in Forming Cleveland
Work for Art Forming Cleveland reports on the policy initiatives in the cities you see here. This is not an exhaustive list. Many cities throughout the country and internationally support the visual arts, craft and design sector through public policy initiatives. This research provides examples of particular relevance to Cleveland. This map highlights a key type of arts and culture support available in each city. Additional information on these examples is presented in the LA Art following section. Show Public Counsel and Support
Cultural Master Plan
46 Plan for the Arts
Grants & International Artist Fellowships Services Public Art Events and Arts Cultural Support Exchange Fund Regional Program Promoter
47 public policy for arts and culture in other cities
Cleveland, OH Portland, OR Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC), a political subdivision of Portland’s Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) Ohio and one of the largest funders of arts and culture derives its funding from a mix of public and private in the nation, inspires and strengthens the community sources. xxxvii The council provides support to local artists by investing in the VACD sector. Thanks to a ten-year and art organizations through various grants, including, tax approval by Cuyahoga County voters in 2006, the general operating grants for arts organizations located organization administers approximately $15 million a year within supporting counties, project grants for individual to arts organizations of all sizes and from all disciplines. artists and nonprofit organizations, and professional According to their website, CAC has invested over $112 development grants for artists and arts administrators. million in 237 arts and culture organizations since 2007. Other community services are also offered by RACC, These funds are awarded through various programs and like workshops for artists, organization consulting, as well grants, like general operating grants, as well as grants for as printed and electronic resources. The council also project support. xxxiv Also, the Creative Culture Grant, supports Art Spark, a bimonthly event that provides an a pilot grant program launched in 2013, awards up to opportunity for artists and art supporters to mix, meet, $150,000 for two arts and culture projects that are and network. xxxviii selected through a community voting process. xxxv Also, Work for Art, a fundraising initiative, primarily garners Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC), a funds through employee charity campaigns at workplaces nonprofit service organization dedicated to strengthening, in Oregon and Southwest Washington. xxix These donations unifying, and connecting the arts and culture sector are then distributed through a competitive grant program in Greater Cleveland, has supported individual artists that is administered by the RACC. Over 100 arts through the Creative Workforce Fellowship program, organizations received funding through this program, which is funded through a grant from CAC. This program offering a variety of arts-related services and education provides $20,000 to 20 artists of various disciplines each opportunities. Work for Art also provides supporters an year. xxxvi To date, 14 craft, 6 design and 34 visual arts Fellowships have been awarded, totaling $1,080,000.
xxxiv Mission and History of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, http://www.cacgrants.org/mission-and-history.php. xxxv Creative Culture Grant, http://www.cacgrants.org/creative-culture-grants.php. xxxvi Creative Workforce Fellowship, http://www.cultureforward.org/Our-Programs/Fellowship. xxxvii Regional Arts and Culture Council, http://www.racc.org/about/about-racc. xxxviii See http://portlandartspark.com/index.php/site/about for more details. xxxix Work for Art, http://workforart.org/index.php/site/about. xl About the Right Brain Initiative, http://therightbraininitiative.org/about-the-right-brain-initiative. xli See http://austintexas.gov/department/createaustin-cultural-master-plan for more details. xlii Imagine Austin, http://austintexas.gov/page/creativeeconomy. xliii See http://austintexas.gov/department/next-level-program for more details. xliv For more information, see http://austintexas.gov/department/cultural-and-heritage-tourism-resources. xlv Cultural Arts Division funding, http://austintexas.gov/department/cultural-funding. xlvi Keep Austin Weird, see http://www.keepaustinweird.com. xlvii Creative ambassadors, http://austintexas.gov/department/creative-ambassadors. xlviii See http://creativephl.org/about for more details. xlix About the Cultural Fund, Mission, http://www.philaculturalfund.org/about/mission. l See http://www.culturaldata.org. li Minneapolis Arts Commission, http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/dca/mac/index.htm. lii See http://www.minneapolismn.gov/dca/ for more details.
48 public policy for arts and culture in other cities
“Arts Card” in return for their donations, which offers artists from various creative backgrounds “to represent discounted ticket prices to various art events and the city while traveling in promotion of their own artistic performances. endeavors,” thereby not only supporting the artist, but also increasing the reputation of Austin as a “weird” xlvi The RACC also supports arts education by funding artist and “creative capital destination,” which draws in more residencies in schools and is currently working on a tourists, thus helping support the local creative economy. xlvii comprehensive solution to provide arts education to all regional students. The Right Brain Initiative is one such ed- Philadelphia, PA ucational program aimed at accomplishing that goal. The Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Initiative was launched in 2008 to promote “whole brain Economy (OACCE) was re-established in 2008, aiming learning” by providing every K-8 student in the region to support and promote the arts, culture, and creative with access to the arts, regardless of their background. xl industries in the city. The office oversees the city’s art An arts-integrated learning experience is created through program, offers policy advice to the mayor, and provides the collaboration of artist, teachers, and The Right Brain access to grant programs. xlviii The Philadelphia Cultural Initiative’s staff by designing experiences that fit the Fund, a city-funded nonprofit corporation, was established unique needs of every student. The program involves a in 1991 by the mayor and city council and “promotes arts community-wide partnership of schools, citizens, private and culture as engines of social, educational, and economic donors, local government, and cultural groups. The RACC development.” This nonprofit also provides grants, funded is the Initiative’s managing partner and funding is drawn by the city’s allocation to the Cultural Fund, to Philadelphia- from public and private sources throughout the based arts and cultural organizations. xlix The Cultural Data tri-county region. Project (CDP) collects arts and culture financial, programmatic and operational data in a standardized Austin, TX online system for use by organizations and researchers. l The City of Austin’s Economic Development Department has several arts and culture-related programs through Minneapolis, MN its Cultural Arts Division. The Cultural Development The Minneapolis Arts Commission, chartered in 1974 program is part of the Division and aims to support the with the mission of strengthening the arts and cultural life development of creative industries through planning and in the city, stimulates arts development, fosters appreciation other initiatives. One such program is the CreateAustin and participation in the arts by all citizens, encourages Cultural Master Plan, a ten-year plan to stimulate Austin’s cooperation between artists and arts groups, and, among “culture of creativity.” xli The Imagine Austin program other things, helps find financial support for the arts. li invests in Austin’s creative culture through supporting The commission is housed under the city’s Department “live music, festivals, theater, film, digital media, and new of Community Planning and Economic Development. In creative art forms,” xlii There is also the Next Level program, 2005 these groups collaboratively created the City of which offers professional development to creative businesses Minneapolis Plan for the Arts, a ten-year strategic plan to to help them grow and expand their impact on the define the city’s role in supporting the arts. Art In Public creative economy, xliii and Cultural and Heritage Tourism Spaces works with the Arts Commission in enhancing Resources, which aims to stimulate cultural economic public spaces with public art, creating more than a dozen development by growing the consumer base and public art projects in the city. lii increasing cultural tourism to “bring new resources to New York City, NY the community.” xliv The New York Foundation for The Arts (NYFA) offers Other programs within the Cultural Arts Division also services, programming, and resources to artists and seek to provide support and funding for individual artists art organizations. liii NYFA originally only served artists and art organizations, including the Community Initiatives throughout the state, but in 2009 it expanded programs and Cultural Expansion Programs, which offers various and services nationwide and internationally. NYFA offers levels of funding. Yet another initiative in the division is fiscal sponsorship through their program Artspire. Artspire the Creative Ambassador Program, which designates local enables artists and art organizations to raise funds using 49 public policy for arts and culture in other cities
NYFA’s tax-exempt status as a nonprofit organization. free and affordable, high-quality events for residents and NYFA offers three different online resources: NYFA Classifieds, tourists. In 2012, the Chicago Cultural Plan was created NYFA Source, and NYFA’s Business of Art. NYFA to lay the framework for the city’s role in future cultural Classifieds serves as a resource portal for advertisers and and economic growth. The Chicago Public Art Collection job seekers. NYFA Source is the nation’s largest online includes over 700 art pieces displayed in 150 municipal arts database and offers resources and opportunities for facilities; the collection also administers the city’s Percent artists. NYFA’s Business of Art provides information and for Arts ordinance that helps to enrich public buildings guidance to artists concerning practical matters such as and spaces with professional works of art. lvii attaining financial security and insurance.liv NYFA offers San Diego, CA professional development through their NYFA Learning The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture program. NYFA Learning also encompasses the Immigrant serves in an advisory capacity to the mayor and city Artist Program (IAP), which provides professional council of San Diego. The Commission promotes support support to immigrant artists working in the New York for the region’s artistic and cultural assets. The Commission metro area. lv NYFA also provides unrestricted grants annually awards funds to support nonprofit and culture through its Artists’ Fellowships program and provides organizations and projects. The funds are awarded over $1 million in cash grants. lvi through two competitive application processes. The funding Chicago, IL comes from the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT)—levied Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special on individuals who stay overnight in the city’s hotels. lviii Events is dedicated to enriching the city’s cultural and aesthetic The Public Arts program focuses on three areas: managing vibrancy. This energetic atmosphere is accomplished by art owned by the city, integrating art into capital improvement fostering the nonprofit art sector, individual artists, and projects, and the inclusion of art and space for cultural for-profit arts businesses through various funding means, use in private development projects. lix like the Individual Artist Program, a grant for Chicago- The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture based artists, and the CityArts Program, which helps also has several special initiatives. lx The Fall for the Arts generate support for nonprofit arts organizations. The program features a month-long spotlight on cultural department also markets the city’s assets and presents activities throughout the region. The Survive and Thrive liii See https://www.nyfa.org/Content/Show/Fiscal%20Sponsorship%20(Artspire) for more details. liv See https://www.nyfa.org/Content/Show/Online%20Resources for more details. lv NYFA Learning, https://www.nyfa.org/Content/Show/NYFA%20Learning. lvi NYFA Awards and Grants, https://www.nyfa.org/Content/Show/Awards%20and%20Grants. lvii See http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/provdrs/public_art_program.html for more details. lviii See http://www.sandiego.gov/arts-culture/funding/index.shtml for more details. lix Public Art, http://www.sandiego.gov/arts-culture/publicart/index.shtml. lx See http://www.sandiego.gov/arts-culture/initiatives/index.shtml for more details. lxi See http://www.theartswave.org/ for more details. lxii See http://www.gcac.org/ for more details. lxiii See http://www.culturela.org/aboutcad/organization.html for more details. lxlv About the Show, http://www.laartshow.com/about-the-show. lxv See http://www.artsforla.org/frequently-asked-questions for more details. lxvi Artist in Residence, http://www.cultureforward.org/Our-Programs/Residence. lxvii See more at http://www.cultureforward.org/Our-Programs/AEI. lxviiiCollaborative Marketing Database, http://cultureforward.org/Our-Programs/Collaborative. lxix Creative Compass, http://mycreativecompass.org. lxx See https://www.indyarts.org/history for more details.
50 public policy for arts and culture in other cities
Initiative is a campaign to assist the nonprofit arts and arts educational plans in the local schools, and working cultural organizations that have survived the economic with citizens to promote the arts. downturn. The Diversity Initiative encourages those Service to Artists organizations that received funding from the Commission Some cities and organizations have a specific focus on to develop boards and staff that better reflect the supporting arts and culture organizations and individual demographics of the city. artists through programs and services, such as databases, Cincinnati, OH workshops or events. ArtsWave is Cincinnati’s regional promoter of arts and In Cleveland, CPAC provides programs and services to culture with the goal of creating community, connecting support the arts and culture sector. For instance, its Artist people, and creating vibrant neighborhoods through the in Residence program provided artists access to affordable arts. The organization also offers services and various housing, established programs to connect to non-artists sources of funding, like one-time project grants and in the community, and provided support for supplies and several recurring “Impact Grants.” An annual arts sampler marketing in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood. lxvi sponsored by the retail giant Macy’s also gives citizens The Artist as an Entrepreneur Institute (AEI) is an artist- and tourists access to three days of free arts events and focused course that provides tools to help artists hone programming. Special offers and discounts to over fifty their business skills through teaching them about creating arts organizations, restaurants, shops, and more are also an artistic business, marketing, accounting, raising capital, provided through the ArtsWave ArtPass. lxi and identifying and developing a brand. lxvii Beyond these Columbus, OH programs, CPAC also offers services like the Collaborative The Greater Columbus Arts Council supports and advances Marketing Database, which allows members to strategically the city’s culture by providing grants and services for target their marketing activities, lxviii and Creative Compass, artists and organizations. Existing grant programs provide which is an online resource website where artists can share organizations with technical assistance, operating and information, find opportunities and build connections.lxix project support, and funding that allows organizations to In Minneapolis, the McKnight Foundation, in partnership hire performing artists to enhance events. Many grants with the Walker Arts Center, developed mnartists.org, an and programs are also available to artists, including, online database of Minnesota artists and art organizations. individual fellowships, networking opportunities, supply Artists from all disciplines are represented, and the site and professional development grants, and the ability to has become a marketplace and community hub, offering participate in an artist exchange program. lxii the public a new way of exploring Minnesota’s arts scene. Los Angeles, CA Fostering engagement in the arts, the Arts Council of The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Indianapolis supports artists and art organizations by (DCA) generates and supports high-quality arts and cultural offering a wide array of programming available to all. The experiences for Los Angeles residents. lxiii The DCA Funds Arts Council awards funding for artists and art organizations projects through four divisions: 1) Grants Administration through fellowships and grants and also provides technical, Division, 2) Public Arts Division, 3) Community Arts Division— marketing, and other business-related services. An online arts instruction for underserved populations, and 4) database of over 800 artists from various disciplines and Marketing and Development Division—arts education. an online calendar of events, performances, and exhibitions The Los Angeles Art Show, created by FADA, is the are maintained by the council. Public Indianapolis, the longest-running venue for contemporary, modern, city’s public art program, is also overseen by the council. historic, and traditional art in the country. lxlv Also, Arts In 1995, the Indianapolis Arts Garden was built and now for LA is a nonprofit organization that advocates greater holds over 300 free performances and monthly art exhibits; investments in the arts. lxv They work to achieve this goal in 2010, Gallery 925, a public art gallery, was created to through supporting arts organizations, connecting arts highlight local, contemporary artists. lxx stakeholders, working with public policy makers, supporting
51 public policy for arts and culture in other cities
The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) in New York City provides artists with networks, resources, and support to help create vibrant communities in Lower Manhattan. lxxi LMCC is dedicated to “advancing artists, transforming audiences, and catalyzing communities.” lxxii LMCC’s Manhattan Arts Grants program provides financial support to artists and community organizations art in public spaces through public-private partnerships. to connect with their audiences in exhibition halls, classrooms, Both Portland and Multnomah County have Percent-for- public spaces, and more. The Artist Residences programs Art ordinances that require 2% of publicly-funded capital offers support to artists by providing work space. LMCC projects to be spent on the creation and maintenance of also offers public and professional development programs. public art. lxvii The RACC helps identify/connect artists to these opportunities, in addition to providing a database The Brooklyn Arts Council connects with all players in of public art projects, a public art gallery in downtown their arts community. The Council provides programs and Portland, and a public art walking tour. services to artists, audiences, participants, venues, educators, and supporters. lxxiii The Council provides grants and free Austin also recognizes the importance of public art and affordable arts events, in addition to training artists through its Art in Public Places (AIPP) program, which and professionals, teaching students, and developing requires that 2% of eligible capital improvement projects’ new projects. budgets go toward the purchase and inclusion of public works of art; it was the first city in Texas to adopt such The Los Angeles County Arts Commission “provides an ordinance. lxviii The City of Austin also maintains public leadership in cultural services for the County, including exhibition space at City Hall called the People’s Gallery. information and resources for the community, artists, In February, the city kicks off a yearly exhibit that showcases educators, arts organizations, and municipalities.” lxxiv regional artists in the People’s Gallery, and, every year, The Commission sponsors special events, provides grants, the artwork that wins the People’s Choice award is and offers professional development programs and purchased by the city and added to City Hall’s permanent programs for educators and students. The Commission collection. lxxix contracts arts organizations through the Organizational Grant Program (OGP) to provide arts services. lxxv The Philadelphia promotes art at City Hall through its public Commission also has a Civic Art program to implement art gallery, holding exhibitions that feature local civic arts projects for a variety of county facilities. The artists. lxxx The city’s Percent for Arts program also provides Civic Art Policy allocates one percent of design and 1% of the total dollar amount of any city-funded construction construction costs on new county capital projects to a project to fine arts. This applies to city construction and Civic Art Special Fund. lxxvi remodeling projects, as well as to developers using land assembled and acquired by the city’s redevelopment Public Art Funding Programs agency. The program was established in 1959, the first While public art is becoming a major focus of the visual such program in America, and has helped with the arts within cities’ public policies, the funding of these installation of over 400 public art projects. lxxxi programs and their content differ. Recognizing the value of public art, Portland’s Regional Arts and Culture Council Possibly one of the most well-known arts programs, helps to acquire and maintain community-owned Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program was created in 1984 with the goal of transforming public spaces and improving individual lives with the mantra, “Art Saves Lives.” Originally created as part of Philadelphia’s Anti-Graffiti Network, Jane Goldman, the muralist hired to spearhead the program, worked with local graffiti artists after recognizing their raw talent and helped them refine their skills to
52 public policy for arts and culture in other cities beautify their neighborhoods. In 1996, the effort was as public institutions and creative artists within the five reorganized into the Mural Arts Program with Director boroughs of New York. lxxxiv DCLA’s Materials for the Arts Jane Goldman. Goldman then started a nonprofit organization Program provides free supplies for use in arts programs to advocate and raise funds for the program. Since the offered by nonprofit groups and public schools. DCLA’s program began, over 3,600 murals have been created, Percent for Art program has changed the landscape of helping to reactivate and beautify public spaces, which the city by commissioning over 180 works of art at public established Philadelphia as the “City of Murals.” lxxxii building sites throughout the city.
CITYarts in New York City is a program that brings In the public realm, the City of Cleveland also has several youth and professional artists together in effort to initiatives that help support the arts. The city’s Arts transform communities by creating public art. Since and Culture Division runs a program called Mural My 1968, CITYarts has produced 287 public arts projects in Neighborhood that connects young Cleveland artists collaboration with over 500 artists, 100,000 city youth, with professional muralists, businessmen, and community and almost 500,000 community volunteers. CITYarts has leaders to help create uplifting civic murals in several city five programs: Young Minds Build Bridges, an art education wards. lxxxv The city also has an ordinance that requires program that focuses on relationships among youth worldwide; 1.5% of the budget for city projects over $300,000 to go Community Identity, a neighborhood revitalization program; toward public art. lxxxvi The Greater Cleveland Regional Kids for Justice, an arts education program aimed to Transit Agency (GCRTA) also supports public art through reach at-risk youth; and Tribute to New York & New its Arts in Transit program. Established in 1991, the Yorkers, a program in response to the event of 9/11 that program sets aside 1% of its projects budget towards promotes New York pride. Finally, Window of Opportunity public art, leading to the installation of over 20 works is a program that identifies artistically talented youth and of art at GCRTA rail stations and transit centers. lxxxvii connects them with professional artists. lxxxiii While all of the programs and policies offered in other The New York Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) cities illustrate the state of art and culture support programs represents and serves nonprofit cultural organizations on a national scale, we offer specific recommendations to involved in the visual, literary, and performing arts, as well strengthen the Cleveland VACD sector.
lxx See https://www.indyarts.org/history for more details. lxxi See http://www.lmcc.net/ for more details. lxxii About LMCC, http://www.lmcc.net/about. lxxiiiSee http://www.brooklynartscouncil.org/about for more details. lxxivAbout the Commission, http://www.lacountyarts.org/about.html. lxxv Grants and Professional Development, http://www.lacountyarts.org/grants.html. lxxviAbout Civic Art, http://www.lacountyarts.org/civicart_about.htm. lxxvii See http://www.racc.org/public-art/overview-opportunities for more details. lxxviii See http://austintexas.gov/department/art-in-public-places for more details. lxxix The People’s Gallery, http://austintexas.gov/department/peoples-gallery. lxxx See http://creativephl.org/ for more details. lxxxi See http://www.phila.gov/pra/percentForArt.html for more details. lxxxii History, http://www.muralarts.org/about/history. lxxxiii See http://www.cityarts.org/about for more details. lxxxiv About Cultural Affairs, http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcla/html/about/about.shtml. lxxxv Mural My Neighborhood, http://portal.cleveland-oh.gov/CityofCleveland/Home/Government/CityAgencies/ParksRecreationandProperties/ Cultural%20Arts. lxxxvi Read more at http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/cwp/art_trend.php. lxxxviiArts in Transit, http://www.riderta.com/programs/artsintransit. 53 Waterloo Arts Festival / Photo by Seth Beattie lxxxviii Markusen, A., & Gadwa, A. (2010). Arts and culture in urban or regional planning: A review and research agenda. Journal of Planning Education Research, 29 no. 3 379-391. lxxxix McCarthy, K. F., Ondaatje, E. H., Brooks, A., & Szanto, A. A portrait of the visual arts: Meeting the challenges of a new era. RAND Corporation: 2005, 150p. xc Preparing Students for the Next America. The Benefits of an Arts Education. The Arts Education Partnership. 2013. http://www.aep-arts.org/ wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Preparing-Students-for-the-Next-America-FINAL.pdf; and Vaughn, Kathryn (2002), “Music and Mathematics: Mod- est Support for the Oft-Claimed Relationship.” In R. Deasy (Ed.), Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Achievement and Social Development, Washington, DC: AEP. xci Cited in the report Preparing Students for the Next America. The Benefits of an Arts Education. The Arts Education Partnership. 2013. http:// www.aep-arts.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Preparing-Students-for-the-Next-America-FINAL.pdf with references to Heath, S. B., Soep, E., & Roach A. (1998). Living the arts through language-learning: A report on community-based youth organizations. American for the Arts Mono- graphs, 2 and Montgomerie, D., & Ferguson, J. (1999). Bears don’t need phonics: An examination of the role of drama in laying the foundations for critical thinking in the reading process. Research in Drama Education. The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 4(1), 11 - 20. - See more at: http://www.artsedsearch.org/summaries/bears-don-t-need-phonics-an-examination-of-the-role-of-drama-in-laying-the-foundations-for- critical-thinking-in-the-reading-process#sthash.SDg7uBRC.dpuf. xcii Podlozny, A. (2000). Strengthening verbal skills through the use of classroom drama: A clear link. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 34(3-4), 239-276 and Walker, E., Tabone, C. & Weltsek, G. (2011). When achievement data meet drama and arts integration. Language Arts, 88(5), 365-372. - See more at: http://www.artsedsearch.org/summaries/when-achievement-data-meet-drama-and-arts-integration#sthash.2C1LXAfy.dpuf. xciii Courey, S. J., Balogh, E., Siker, J. R., & Paik, J. (2012). Academic music: music instruction to engage third-grade students in learning basic fraction concepts. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 81, 251-278 and Kinney, D. W., & Forsythe, J. L. (2005). The effects of the arts IMPACT curriculum upon student performance on the Ohio fourth-grade proficiency test. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 164, 35-48.
54 Recommendations to the Cleveland VACD Sector
To tap into the visual arts assets in Cleveland, policy changes are required. These modifications should be directed at both overcoming the deficits that exist in the local visual arts market while simultaneously taking advantage of the various factors that have created Cleveland’s distinctive visual arts scene.
Stimulating Local Demand and Growing Pool of Customers There is a need to improve an identified deficit of customers by stimulating local and near-local regional demand for the arts among the population in commuting distance of Cleveland. Local supply outweighs local demand, and research has shown that efforts to create external demand through tourism are very often costly and ineffective. Even in studies of well-known destinations like New York and Los Angeles, the vast majority (80%) of art institution attendees were local residents from the county. lxxxviii The best source of demand stems from the local population itself and the best recognized method critical thinking skills—including skills for comparing, for increasing local demand for the visual arts is to ensure hypothesizing, critiquing, and exploring multiple and early exposure during childhood through school and alternative viewpoints.” xci Arts education helps students community-based programs. lxxxix Many other cities are become better readers and writers: ” Drama instruction, growing their future art demand through educational for example, increases reading readiness and word fluency programs to children. Besides the future benefits for the in early grades and continues to improve reading VACD sector, children receiving art instruction as part comprehension and writing skills throughout middle and of their education have greater success in reading, math, high school.” xcii Integrating arts into math instruction “also critical thinking, and social skills, and are more likely to stay facilitates mastery of computation and estimation skills, in school. xc According to a recent study of the Arts and challenging concepts like fractions,” according to the Education Partnership, “Arts education develops students’ reports by Kinney et al (2005) and Courey et al (2012). xciii
Support for artists’ and art organizations’ acquisition of
digital skills for sales and marketing, developing a customer
base, and promoting their artwork to a broader audience
is necessary. Embracing new media to interact with the
audience is critical in responding to the public’s desire for
experiencing the arts. A wider appeal to the local public
and private leadership in recognition of individual artists
and their work as local small businesses would help
enhance the VACD sector by promoting locally made
goods and enlarging the customer base.
55 recommendations to the cleveland vacd sector
Developing a vision is an important part of integrating the arts into regional strategic planning. In Arizona, for example, a strategic plan established goals promoting community access, living wages for artists, high quality arts primary education, as well as elevating cultural programs and organizations to societal cornerstones and recognizing The “decentralized mosaic”1 form, as recognized by that the arts are vital to economic viability and quality Markusen, manifests in Cleveland through neighborhood- of life. xciv focused creative scenes, which tend to promote equity and enhance social life, while organically addressing the Beyond a regional strategy, the continued development market’s needs. xcv of Cleveland arts districts like The District of Design, and the establishment of more community art walks, like Tremont’s ArtWalk, will help strengthen the local arts Developing a vision is and culture sector. Cleveland can also promote the temporary use of unoccupied retail space for art displays, an important part of adaptively reuse existing structures for arts and culture facilities, install rotating art displays in businesses and in integrating the arts public places, share performing art and other facilities, develop rosters of artists for developers to use for public into regional strategic art, and encourage artists and businesses to share skills and talents. planning.
Encouraging Asset-Based Development
Cleveland should continue to avoid the strategy that Additionally, the intimate nature of Cleveland’s arts some cities and regions make of creating artificial clustering neighborhoods and their ties to residents serve as of the arts. The Cleveland VACD sector is represented another method for driving local demand for the arts, by many unique, authentic, grassroots-driven art through experiential and collecting avenues. neighborhoods that have reinvigorated themselves. Efforts to centralize art is often done in an attempt to Sustaining and Growing Support draw in tourists, which, as mentioned previously, has The region has to continue financial and other support limited benefits. Research has also found that centralized for artists in Cuyahoga County. Current programs, such districts tend to have a less equitable impact on the community. as those that currently exist through Cuyahoga Arts & Culture and the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, should be fostered and expanded. These programs help maintain a supply of high-quality art and artists in the region, in part, by attracting artists to the region. The supply-side approach is the traditional model for supporting the arts in the U.S. and has been effective, despite criticisms of the practice on equity grounds— specifically that the subsidies end up going to wealthy collectors. Also, support for small arts organizations,
xcv Stern, M. J., & Seifert, S. C. Cultivating “Natural” Cultural Districts. Social Impact of the Arts Project. University of Pennsylvania. September 2007. Source: http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/siap/docs/cultural_and_community_revitalization/natural_cultural_districts.pdf. xciv See http://www.aztownhall.org/Resources/Documents/98th_Full_Report.pdf for more examples of Arizona art strategies.
56 recommendations to the cleveland vacd sector many of which are nonprofits, must be maintained to sustain the VACD sector. Support can come in the form of grants and through coordination and marketing assistance. The CAN Journal, featured in a case study, is an excellent example of this type of support.
Fostering Collaborations and Closing Strengthening such collaborative efforts could organically Communication Gap nurture partnerships among art neighborhoods and create The report’s final recommendation is to create policies better coordination for art events through marketing efforts, that nurture the cooperative character of the visual arts generating higher visibility for the people’s collective voice scene in Cleveland so that it continues to welcome and in- and outside of Cuyahoga County. encourage new artists. One way to create these policies is by hosting informal gatherings of artists and patrons where the goal is to create and sustain intra-industry [Artist and patron] linkages and accumulate social capital that can be leveraged later. This venue could become a great conduit for relationships will benefit strengthening ties in the art community to Cleveland’s robust industrial base. Such relationships will benefit communities by growing communities by growing internal corporate demand for art products and, more importantly, demonstrating internal corporate demand the potential for spurring creativity, and driving further art-based invention and innovation. This strategy can for art products and, utilize existing industry products in a new market, to new customers, or, perhaps, create a new product cycle. more importantly,
demonstrating the potential
for spurring creativity,
and driving further
art-based invention
and innovation.
A region that embraces art as public policy bolsters its
cultural citizenship. Artistic practice can be a transformative
force and reaffirms the importance of the arts in
contemporary society. Thoughtful cultural policy benefits
artists and audiences; fosters the mystery and courage
of the collective aesthetic imagination; and enriches our
understanding of the risk, freedom, responsibility, beauty,
and poetry in the world.
57 Cleveland vacd sector’s future
Visual arts are a large part of our daily lives, which are inundated with images not only through museums or private collections, but also through product consumption. Art penetrates our environments and can inspire collective action.
Donald Black, Jr., a 33-year-old artist, focused his hybridized There is an ongoing effort to redefine the region that photography techniques on exploring issues like foreclosure, has become particularly important as more corporate, father-son relationships, and the racial divide. On the academic, and philanthropic voices talk about the kind of other hand, Mimi Kato, 39, sheds light, quite literally, on “culture shift” that is needed in how our region responds the spreading problem of invasive plant species through to change. “We’re making the case for why contemporary her photography. Both artists illustrate art-driven activism art matters,” Jill Snyder, MOCA’s Executive Director says and heighten social awareness. in the MOCA Cleveland: Sturdy, Dynamic, & Stylish case study. “Artists are visionaries. Contemporary art museums Combining everyday objects in unusual ways or looking at are hubs for creative people.” The new MOCA building the seemingly trivial through a more somber perspective, “is sort of a laboratory environment that celebrates inspires people to think about new concepts, applications, innovation… Our job in the next few years is to use our and markets for stimulating innovation. For the Cleveland role to communicate with the entrepreneurial sector.” VACD sector to continually invent and deploy products in The visual arts can powerfully support a plan for the real-life applications, the community needs to understand whole region to become a laboratory of innovation. the challenges the sector faces and have a discussion on what needs to be done to help it.
“One of One” (cropped) by Matthew Hollern: Exploring one-of-a-kind and the 3D print / Photo by Robert Muller 58 60 66 MOCA Cleveland: Tremont: Sturdy, Dynamic & Stylish Creative Placekeeping case studies
72 78 84 St. Clair Superior: Public Art: Artist Activists: Creative Reuse Placemaking in Action Heightening Social Awareness
90 96 104 CAN Journal: Dan Cuffaro: Cleveland CycleWerks: Pressing for Change Remaking the Regional Economy Starting Up case study MOCA Cleveland: Sturdy, Dynamic & Stylish
MOCA Cleveland’s new home is making an architectural statement at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and Mayfield Road. The museum is heralding the city’s contemporary arts—and challenging us to think boldly about reimagining our future.
MOCA Cleveland Exterior / Photo by Beth Phillips, CraveableCleveland.com
1 For more information see Penn Institute for Urban Research study “Anchor Institutions and their Role in Metropolitan Change” http://penniur.upenn.edu/uploads/media/anchor-institutions-and-their-role-in-metropolitan-change.pdf
60 MOCA Cleveland’s new home is a $27 million >SPACES is not a “traditional” art gallery. The Cleveland exclamation point for broader redevelopment efforts nonprofit serves artists as a resource and public forum taking place in the Uptown district of Cleveland’s to explore and experiment. SPACES works with artists to University Circle neighborhood. Today, the area is a help them create new and cutting-edge work that pushes hub for Cleveland’s arts and culture, medical, and the boundaries of their medium. At the same time, educational sectors, and the Museum of Contemporary SPACES acts as a platform and advocate for artists; for Art (MOCA) Cleveland serves as a significant anchor instance, the artists who display their work in the gallery cultural institution for the area.1 Its presence is spurring maintain all rights to their art. economic investment, improving the urban landscape, SPACES opened in 1978, sending out invitations to artists and redefining perceptions of place that can attract and in the community to immediately engage in the programing retain knowledge-based talent. process. The first event hosted by SPACES was attended
The already iconic building, which opened in October by 35 people. Since then, over 9,000 artists have worked
2012, conveys a sense of dynamism, excitement and with the nonprofit as it transitioned from its first location in importance as well as audacity for broader efforts to Playhouse Square to the Warehouse District, and then to re-envision our region. Jill Snyder, MOCA’s executive its current location in Ohio City on the Superior Viaduct. director, says the building was designed to make a Today, the organization offers three programs for artists: statement; indeed, its morphing geometric forms— The Swap, The Vault, and research and development. The pentagon, cube and prism—protrude into the Euclid research and development program helps artists, curators, Avenue and Mayfield Road intersection, creating a and others explore ideas and objects through exhibition salient beacon for the urban district. projects, which include solo and group endeavors. The Building a Home for Contemporary Art Swap program is a residency program for international, For most of its recent history, MOCA was largely national, and/or local artists to promote the exchange hidden away in a rented space on the second floor of of ideas through discussion and the creation of new art, a retrofitted Sears department store that was part of particularly through collaboration with local artists. The the old Cleveland Play House complex. “People would third program, The Vault, started in 2010, is an audio-visual never wander by and go in” at its former home, says experience inside a converted, walk-in safe allowing audience David Abbott, executive director of the George Gund members to choose their own adventure in what they Foundation. As the former President of University Circle want to see. The art in the vault rotates every six months. Inc., the neighborhood’s community development Website: http://www.spacesgallery.org/ corporation, he pushed for relocating the museum into a more high-profile setting over a decade ago.
Snyder echoes this sentiment when she recalls the initial site selection talks for the new building in the early 2000s. She says the goal was to move MOCA to a more visible location in University Circle, near the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Institute of Art, and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) to take advantage of the foot traffic those entities generated. In 2005, CWRU began exploring the area that has become known as Uptown. At the time though, the original master plan was dubbed the University Arts Retail District, giving credence to the idea that, in Snyder’s words, “Culture was always a core piece of the economic plan.” The creation of The Production Language Factory in Jake Beckman’s SWAP studio at SPACES / Photo by Bruce Edwards
61 >Opened in early 2013, the Transformer Station was the MOCA hired Iranian-born architect Farshid Moussavi to result of a partnership between the Bidwell Foundation and design the new building in summer 2006, before CWRU the Cleveland Museum of Art seeking to bring contem- had even engaged a developer for the district. “MOCA was porary art to the west side of Cleveland through events at the table the whole time,” Snyder says. The and programming. The former rail electric substation, museum’s decision to retain an architect so early in built in 1924 and one of sixteen built in Cleveland, was the discussions of the district allowed MOCA to converted into an exhibition space and now acts as a have greater influence over the project. “We didn’t new anchor in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. know at the time that MOCA would take up the central corner,” Snyder says about the planning process. “The The Transformer Station is the first endeavor of the timing worked out well. We were able to take the lead Cleveland Museum of Art located outside of the University in how the master plan evolved before they selected the Circle neighborhood. Six months out of the year, the developer. We proposed the corner site.” Museum will use the Station for contemporary art displays, with the remainder of the year being devoted Building Support to the Bidwell collection. The space serves as a lab or After securing MOCA’s location, the next step in the think tank; a place where the museum can uncover new master plan was to aggressively fundraise and leverage a opportunities and take more risks with their art. The mix of private, philanthropic, and public funds. The project space also displays Fred and Laura Bidwell’s collection received $5 million in New Market Tax Credits, which were containing contemporary art pieces from the last twenty made available as part of the federal stimulus program, years by artists from across the globe. The focus of their and $450,000 in funding from the state. “Everything else collection has been on artists in the beginning was from foundations, corporations or private individuals,” and middle stages of their careers, with the intent of Snyder says. supporting new and emerging talent. Early foundation support came from the George Gund Website: http://www.transformerstation.org/ Foundation and the Cleveland Foundation. Snyder attributes MOCA’s successful fundraising efforts to the museum’s civic vision and its sustainable approach, both from a business and environmental perspective. The “green” building is heated and cooled by geothermal wells and is expected to earn a Silver rating from the U.S. Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
Transformer Station / Photo courtesy of CPAC 62 CASE STUDY > MOCA Cleveland: Sturdy, Dynamic & Stylish
Snyder says the building’s design also sends a message about MOCA’s commitment to helping redefine the surrounding neighborhood. “The architect did an unexpectedly bold thing,” she says. “The building literally juts into the intersection. So a section of the building is open in the back as public space.” This public space contradicts original plans for the building: “The open space had faced the road Another compelling factor for funders was MOCA’s and wasn’t inviting for the public to use,” she says. “This “relatively modest scale,” Snyder says. Compared to expansion design makes it friendlier to use. It really does create a projects that total in the hundreds of millions of dollars at welcoming space.” the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Institute of Art, CWRU owns the plaza behind MOCA and views the University Hospitals, and CWRU, “we looked doable,” open area as an extension of its campus. Restaurant, Snyder says. “For the community, a $35 million campaign tavern and store patrons surrounding the plaza will now was modest scale with high impact.” spill out into the public space behind MOCA. Snyder is Because of these efforts, MOCA had already raised the entire pleased at the thought of retail, campus, and cultural life $27.2 million building cost prior to breaking ground for the intersecting in a space dedicated to community exchange. new structure. So far, all but $4 million of its $35 million MOCA encourages even more public interaction by campaign goal has been raised, including funds for building allowing free access to its spacious first floor during open the facility and an endowment for the museum. MOCA’s hours. Snyder envisions the space as an “urban living fundraising success is particularly notable because it carried room,” an informal space that invites civic conversations out its capital campaign during a time of economic recession. among those who pass through its doors. “These kinds “We were the little engine that could,” Snyder says. of buildings are really important,” Snyder says. “Not for organizational self-congratulation, but for what they come Anchoring a Neighborhood to represent—they become icons,” she says. “They say Since the building’s completion, MOCA has quickly become something about the area.” an attractive anchor for neighborhood redevelopment. Examples of this include $44 million in mixed-use MOCA has especially focused on cultivating the museum’s development, totaling more than 144,000 square feet, connection with the students drawn each semester to in addition to $30 million in public investment at two the surrounding area. For example, students at CWRU nearby transit stations that build upon the neighborhoods’ and the Cleveland Institute of Art receive free member- transit and pedestrian character. “It is part of a growing ships to the museum. Some students have been hired to mixed-use neighborhood with lots of foot traffic,” notes help artists-in-residence and serve as security and retail Abbott. “There’s a much greater opportunity [for people] workers. MOCA also commissioned industrial design to walk in casually and participate. That’s only going to get students at the Cleveland Institute of Art to create better as University Circle grows. That location is a huge lounge furniture for the community space. part of it.”
“We’ve been told by folks developing retail stores [and housing units] that those are leasing, in part, because of MOCA,” says Stewart Kohl, who serves on MOCA’s board of directors and co-chaired its capital campaign. “Their job of leasing space has been made significantly easier because of MOCA. People see that something is happening in the neighborhood. They envision themselves out on their balcony overlooking [the building and the nightlife around it]. It’s alive.”
63 >One of the world’s most distinguished comprehensive art During its annual fund raiser in October 2013, MOCA museums, the Cleveland Museum of Art was established lowered the event’s admission fee to $25 after 11 p.m. “so in 1913 “for the benefit of all the people forever.” anyone can come,” Kohl says. “The crowd got younger with Through Cleveland industrialists Hinman B. Hurlbut, more piercings and tattoos. But it was also amazing how John Huntington, and Horace Kelley setting aside money many of the original crowd [the funders] stayed. specifically to found an art museum, Cleveland’s art Not many places in the area do you see that. That’s museum was born. Lending his support, Jeptha H. Wade really healthy.” II, whose family had donated the land for the Museum of Adapting to Change Art and Wade Park, served as a founding incorporator and Despite its success, MOCA admits there may be some the founding president of the board of trustees. These challenges ahead. Snyder expects MOCA to experience endowments originally created for the museum continue some growing pains which may require the museum to to fund it to this day and have helped it to remain free reframe its operations and programming. and open to the public.
Furthermore, through the leadership of William M. Milliken, “I think the jury is still out about our size,” she says. museum director from 1930 to 1958, the institution At 34,000 square feet, MOCA’s new building itself is prospered and started to gain its international reputation. significantly larger than its old, rented space, which totaled That reputation owes itself, in part, to the generous funds 20,000 square feet. MOCA’s operating budget is also from the Rogers Bequeath and the Severance Fund, which larger, increasing from $1.6 million to $2.7 million, as well allowed the museum to purchase significant works that as its annual number of visitors, growing from 18,000 to contribute to the museum’s reputation as a world-class 60,000. “This growth is risky for us,” Snyder says. “It will institution. take us a few years to get there. Half of our visitors have never been here before. We have to be focused on Website: http://www.clevelandart.org/ understanding our visitors and audience.”
As a non-collecting institution, MOCA must also manage its new overhead costs while being mindful of its mission. “Now we have a building and are working toward an endowment,” Snyder says. “It’s not our mission to collect and preserve pieces. That’s a resource issue. If the pie is only so big, if you devote resources to a building and a collection, then you don’t have resources for our core mission of creating exhibitions, identifying trends and bringing them to this region, and doing that in a nimble way that’s forward- looking and that has that laboratory quality to it.”
The Atrium at the Cleveland Museum of Art / Photo courtesy of CPAC
64 CASE STUDY > MOCA Cleveland: Sturdy, Dynamic & Stylish
of place that people want, then they will move because they can. If Cleveland is going to win at attracting the kind of talent that gives rise to new enterprises and attracts businesses back to the region, it has to exhibit an authentic and engaging quality of place. Contemporary art is part of that attractive mix,” Abbott says. One important area of competition for talent is for “young, creative, innovative people who can be anywhere,” Abbott says. “That’s a never-ending challenge. What is it Cleveland must do to attract and retain talent? One important statement is the Redefining a Region arts.” Not all art is created equal, of course, and Snyder While the museum continues to adapt to its new structure, notes that “cutting edge funky arts” like those featured Snyder is adamant about the regional implications of the at MOCA are one important key to appealing to that institution as well. “What we did was very bold,” Snyder talent demographic. says. MOCA’s presence adds “heft and weight” to the Contemporary art not only tends to appeal to the ongoing effort to redefine the region that has become adventurous, entrepreneurially young workers the region particularly important as more corporate, academic, and needs to attract, but it also challenges the region to philanthropic voices talk about the kind of “culture shift” rethink business as usual. “We can’t just be traditional. that is needed in how our region responds to change We can’t be afraid of controversy,” Abbott says. MOCA’s and takes on entrepreneurial risk. “We’re making the case glistening new home “helps us break some of our for why contemporary art matters,” Snyder says. “Artists tradition-bound approaches to doing things. The nature are visionaries. Contemporary art museums are hubs for of the world is such that we have to be willing to rethink creative people.” The new building “is sort of a laboratory anything and everything. Contemporary art helps us do environment that celebrates innovation… Our job in the that… having a separate institution, especially one that next few years is to use our role to communicate with gets attention through its architecture and location is a the entrepreneurial sector.” powerful message. It says something about Cleveland The goal was always to create a space that captures that is important.” attention and conveys a sense of dynamism, excitement, In this way, MOCA’s building is an embodiment of what importance—and audacity. While David Abbott admits he contemporary art is intended to do—provoke discussion, doesn’t expect that every greater Clevelander will love challenge convention, and call attention to our present. the building’s design, he does expect everyone in the Sturdy, dynamic, and stylish, the MOCA building has firmly region will benefit from the progressive, creative statement planted itself at the intersection of tradition and change, it sends. “Even if you are a 65-year-old person living in the a shimmering metaphor for the region that stands as suburbs and will never think about going [to the museum], a permanent beacon for those wanting to experience you have a stake in its success,” Abbott says. A vibrant and contemporary art and those daring to change the global visible contemporary arts community sends a message conversation about a region. “about our openness, our willingness to approach things in new ways. That helps attract and retain the kinds of people who have a positive impact on our economy.”
Region-wide economic impact may seem like a high expectation for moving a 45-year-old museum a few blocks down the street, but Abbott believes its importance cannot be overstated: “Cleveland continues to struggle with and adapt to the notion that it is in competition with the world in a variety of ways. If we don’t have the quality
65 case study Tremont: Creative Placekeeping
While other cities across the country are beginning to adopt “creative placemaking” as a means of revitalizing neighborhoods, many Cleveland neighborhoods have established reputations as havens for pioneering artists. Today, the Tremont neighborhood is taking steps to ensure it maintains its prominence as one of Cleveland’s established art enclaves.
“Dendrite” by Olga Ziemska, the public art component of a streetscape project undertaken by the City of Cleveland on Professor Avenue in Tremont / Photo courtesy of Olga Ziemska
2 Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa. A White Paper for The Mayors’ Institute on City Design “Creative Placemaking.” National Endowment for the Arts. 2010. http://arts.gov/sites/default/files/CreativePlacemaking-Paper.pdf 3 To read more about National Endowment for the Arts’ creative placemaking program, go to http://arts.gov/national/our-town 4 To read more about ArtPlace America, go to http://www.artplaceamerica.org/ 5 To learn more about Tremont history, go to Neighborhood Link’s Neighborhood Tour: http://www.nhlink.net/neighborhoodtournew/history. php?neighborhood=tremont
66 CASE STUDY > Tremont: Creative Placekeeping
Creative placemaking is the name of a recent trend for Votava to leave his 5,000 square feet of studio space with revitalizing neighborhoods, cities, and regions through the its enviable lake views in downtown Cleveland noting that cultivation and promotion of their arts and cultural assets. he “wanted to be part of a neighborhood that celebrated While such efforts have occurred for many decades art and was affordable.” throughout the country, Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa, Other early artists like crafter Angelica Pozo were also in their 2010 report of the same name, coined the concept drawn to Tremont for its affordability and the opportunity “creative placemaking”. 2 This report explains how arts to be an artist-pioneer that would make arts and culture and culture assets are key components of a broader eco- a driving force in the area’s redevelopment. nomic development toolkit because of their unique ability to reimagine vacant spaces, celebrate ethnic and historic Tremont’s affordability and appreciation for the arts also legacies, attract and welcome visitors, and rally community attracted early gallery owner, Jean Brandt. Just two years stakeholders around issues of common cause. out of college, she arrived in 1987 to open both her law office and Brandt Gallery, managing to successfully While more recent national initiatives like “Our Town” 3 reinvigorate the boarded-up storefronts on Kenilworth and “ArtPlace America” 4 are providing funding to support Avenue. Eventually, Brandt’s passion for the neighborhood creative placemaking activities, Cleveland is home to many and the arts would coalesce around the development of neighborhoods where artists, community partners, and new programming that served to promote and expand the arts and culture organizations have much longer histories visibility of Tremont’s art and culture assets. of working together to impact economic and community development outcomes. An emerging issue for such Growing an Artistic Place communities is not “creative placemaking” per se, but Six years after first arriving in Tremont, and encouraged rather “creative placekeeping.” Specifically, how do Cleveland by the continued growth in the art scene, Jean Brant and neighborhoods that were early adopters of utilizing arts Sandy Rutkowski, then-bar manager at Edison’s Pub, and culture-based redevelopment strategies maintain organized a handful of galleries and restaurants into a their momentum, remain competitive and respond to monthly ArtWalk. Today, the Tremont ArtWalk, which their community’s evolving tastes? celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2013, continues to draw roughly 4,000 art lovers and pub crawlers the second Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood is a primary example. Friday of each month. Votava points to the ArtWalk as It was one of the first neighborhoods in Cleveland to being a critical driver to the neighborhood’s attractiveness witness a resurgence through the cultivation and growth and the catalyst for developing the extensive activities of its arts and culture assets—a resurgence that was available today. “Everything kicked off with the ArtWalk,” decades in the making. Votava says. Latent Potential As community support for the arts grew, so did the number Visual artist, former gallery owner, and Tremont West of programs related to arts and culture. Marking their Development Corporation staff member Jim Votava has eleventh anniversaries in September 2013, Arts in August, one word to describe the neighborhood in 1993: “scary.” Tremont Trek, Taste of Tremont, along with the Tremont Votava moved to Tremont as part of, what he describes Arts and Cultural Festival (which celebrated its fifteenth as, a wave of artist settlers and squatters. When Votava anniversary in September 2013), have followed in the arrived, the perception of many residents was that footsteps of the ArtWalk. Arts and culture has become Tremont’s better days were behind it. The neighborhood so central to the neighborhood’s identity and sense of that, decades earlier, had once attracted waves of Eastern place that Votava even includes an “art yard” in the European immigrants looking for good jobs in the nearby Tremont Farmer’s Market. steel mills had lost its economic verve and more than Over time many of these programs, like the Arts and two-thirds of its population, which went from a high of Cultural Festival, have grown significantly. Scott Rosenstein, about 36,000 in 1920 to 8,138 in 2000. 5
Despite the neighborhood’s challenges, Tremont’s embrace of arts and culture, in addition to its cheap rent, encouraged 67 As> a full time, self-employed artist, Angelica Pozo splits Tremont West’s Community Involvement Manager and her time between her widely exhibited sculptural studio Tremont Arts and Cultural Festival Manager, points to the work, artist-in-residence programs, and major public 94 visual artists and twenty or so performance artists featured art commissions. These commissions include designs at as part of the 2013 Arts and Cultural Festival, held in the RTA Airport Station, the Market Place Bench by the Lincoln Park in September. Rosenstein estimates that the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland’s Gateway District, as first festival in 1998 attracted about 8,000 people, while well as mosaics at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital 2013 organizers planned for a crowd of 25,000. Rosenstein and the Cleveland State University Law Library. points out that, unlike years past, the festival now covers
A New York City native born to parents of Cuban and the “whole park” and finding ways to fit everyone in has Puerto Rican descent, Angelica Pozo moved to Cleveland become a problem. Nonetheless, “That’s a good problem to in 1984 after receiving her Master of Fine Arts degree at have,” he says. the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Pozo has been Redefining Place awarded the Individual Artist Fellowship by the Ohio Arts With the establishment of new arts and culture venues Council and an Arts Midwest/National Endowment for and events, outsider perceptions of Tremont changed and the Arts Regional Artist Fellowship. Additionally, some the next wave of in-migration attracted non-artists seeking of her work is part of a permanent collection in the to surround themselves with the culture and vitality that Museum of Art and Design in New York City. artists had created. Website: http://www.angelicapozo.com/ “People began to realize it was someplace special,” says Rosenstein. “With the coming of artists came the people who wanted to be around such a space. Young singles, couples, [and] empty nesters found Tremont a cool place to be.”
The process of gentrification often is a double-edged sword for neighborhoods revitalizing through the presence of arts and culture. While an influx of new residents increases property values and draws in new businesses, with it also comes the potential for displacement. Rising rents and increased competition for space often threaten to price out the original residents, in this case the artists and galleries, that had made the neighborhood highly desirable to the subsequent waves of residents.
Local artist and writer Josh Usmani explored the extent to which the forces of gentrification may in fact be displacing Tremont’s arts and culture assets. In a CoolCleveland article Usmani asked “Is Tremont Still an Art Community?” 6 He asked artists and gallery owners to weigh in. Many, including Usmani, observed that restaurants, bars, and boutiques have seemingly crowded out galleries.
Angelica Pozo (pictured) in front of her public artwork / Photo by Dan Milner “Every time I go out to Tremont I see more people at bars and restaurants than galleries,” Usmani wrote.
In the article, artist Dana Depew, who ran Tremont’s 6 Josh Usmani “Is Tremont Still an Art Community? A Conversation celebrated non-profit Asterisk Gallery from 2001 until it with Cleveland Artists” http://www.coolcleveland.com/ closed in 2010, chalked up the shrinking presence of art to blog/2013/07/is-tremont-still-an-art-community a simple matter of economics: “The bottom line is afford- 68 ability. The model has existed forever; artists come in when CASE STUDY > Tremont: Creative Placekeeping rent is cheap until the place becomes nice and is no marketplace. Beyond art, more than half of respondents longer affordable… Galleries just don’t generate a lot of indicated that they venture into sales that are not art income compared to restaurants or shops.” related, or are art peripheral (i.e. framing, posters, etc.); this allows them to diversify their product line. In Tremont, Also contributing to this trend is the dual role that galleries these broader trends are driving new approaches to play as both promoters and sellers of art. promoting arts and culture as well. “The art gallery business is like a labor of love, especially Votava and Rosenstein acknowledge that rising rents for unconventional artists who care more about making in Tremont have put pressure on galleries and pushed statements than selling their work”, gallery owner Paul artists to exhibit in less traditional ways. Votava himself Duda says. “Once rents start to go up, artists can’t afford was forced to close his own Fruit Avenue Gallery, which to stay there any longer.” he opened in 1998, and he counts only a few exhibition The Survey of Galleries, Shops, and Studios, which focused spaces that remain open. on a group of 21 organizations throughout Cleveland, With fewer galleries, it is now becoming commonplace confirms this dual role as gallery and shop owners report for Tremont’s bars and restaurants to double as exhibit viewing themselves as primarily promoters (31%) or space. Local establishments arrange to display the work of exhibitors (27%) of art and identifying an economic role regional artists, rotating pieces around monthly. This shift for their work to a lesser extent, identifying themselves as has changed the type of art displayed, as installation, three exporters (16%) or importers (14%) of art. dimensional, and crafts are eschewed in favor of two- Evolving Cultural Tastes dimensional visual arts. Some artists, like Angelica Pozo, As Tremont’s desirability as a neighborhood grew over also see differences in the type of artists that are willing the past decade, demand for collectible art pieces declined. to display in these non-traditional venues, which tends to According to Votava, the recession of 2001 led to a skew toward artists in the early stages of their careers. significant drop in sales as fewer art buyers from New She notes many established artists would not want to York were coming to town to take advantage of lower have their art displayed in poorly lit settings, making it difficult Midwest pricing to expand their collections. The more to fully appreciate the work. Many such artists, she contends, recent Great Recession, followed by a tepid recovery, has still prefer the gallery model where the art itself is the focus also meant that those who frequent the ArtWalk and for visitors. The Survey of Visual Artists also confirms the Arts and Cultural Festival are more likely to be browsers continuing prominence of galleries as locations for selling than buyers and more likely to enjoy dinner or drinks at or displaying art with most respondents indicating that one of Tremont’s eating houses than leave with a “luxury” they display their art in galleries (24%). art purchase from one of its art houses. Other innovative mechanisms for the delivery of art However, for galleries throughout Cleveland, recovery include the concept of pop-up galleries or temporary from recessionary challenges has been uneven. The exhibitions that avoid the long-term overhead of a permanent Survey of Galleries, Shops, and Studios, which focused on gallery. Votava has used this tactic with increasing frequency a group of 21 such organizations throughout Cleveland, as a way to be more strategic and creative in how he revealed that sixty-three percent (63%) of respondents showcases art. From October to December in 2012, he actually saw an increase in sales over the last three years, organized a pop-up show similar to the conglomeration but for many of them this did not come easy. Some of pieces and products assembled through the Cleveland pointed to the fact that they were hit hard during the Bazaar, a nearly decade-old craft fair. Votava’s pop-up recession, and the last two years of growth in sales have show included a variety of fine art and craft items, which merely recovered those losses. The other 40% that he used to help market the ArtWalk’s 20th anniversary reported either declines in sales or staying the same indicated celebration. The pop-up gallery model, though certainly that it has been a challenging environment to be a gallery important for the continued vibrancy of the art scene, or shop. Looking to build business beyond face-to-face may suffer from similar issues as displaying in restaurants interaction, 62% of galleries/shops use the Internet as a and bars. Though the art is certainly the center of attention, 69 CASE STUDY > Tremont: Creative Placekeeping
the types of art remain limited since large and heavy neighborhood, there is a push to nonetheless engage installations may not be feasible for shows with very short them in the arts and culture programming in Tremont. lifecycles. The Survey of Visual Artists also reveals that online Much of this push continues to come from Tremont West, platforms for selling art are gaining prominence, with 14% which hosts the majority of arts and culture programs of respondents indicating they have used such virtual in the neighborhood, including the Arts and Cultural space—the second-highest category behind galleries. Fest. Though not explicit in the organization’s strategic plan, Executive Director Cory Riordan emphasized that Although many rightfully lament the loss of well-known arts and culture is an important part of the fabric of the galleries like Asterisk, gallery owner Paul Duda has welcomed community, and contributes to Tremont West’s mission of the new, wider mix of activities in the neighborhood and making the neighborhood a “national destination.” does not feel threatened by bars displaying artwork. The way he sees it, Tremont will continue to be a visual arts “We continue to look for ways to express [Tremont’s destination if there is more artwork on display. Additionally, special qualities] to make it a desirable place to live,” Duda is happy to see ArtWalk spotlight local salons, Rosenstein says. antique shops Cleveland Auction and Tremont Emporium, To that end, Tremont West has worked to keep arts and and clothing boutiques Banyan Tree and Evie Lou, in addition culture in the neighborhood and deliver arts experiences in to the neighborhood galleries, bars, and restaurants. He ways that reflect the changing behaviors of arts consumers believes people are attracted to the idea of a fun evening who increasingly want to engage with arts and culture in out and want to be able to eat dinner, have a drink, shop more experiential ways. In many cases this entails bringing for a vintage toy or unique jewelry, get some ice-cream, art out of formal gallery spaces and into the neighborhood. and buy a piece of art. Examples include public art projects like Lucky Fireflies “The more that goes on, the better for everybody,” he and innovative “un-programming” like street violinists says. “You have to have destinations to make it fun for that lend a feeling of spontaneity and help build an urban people to come down.” ambiance reflective of the neighborhood’s artistic fabric. Tremont West also recently had success in bringing the As the notion of display space has changed, so has the Beck Center for the Arts, a Lakewood-based non-profit neighborhood’s notion of art. Part of this change comes arts institution, to a vacant storefront in their building. The from the recognition of the culinary arts as a new and Beck Center in Tremont currently offers classes for adults important addition to the art mix. “We’re all entertaining ranging from drawing to improvisation open to residents food as an art form,” Votava says. “We have had very high-end and visitors alike. Tremont West and the Beck Center are chefs come out of here.” Chefs like Lolita’s Michael actively working to establish new partnerships to keep Symon, Fahrenheit’s Rocco Whalen, and Dante’s Dante the Beck Center involved in the neighborhood. Boccuzzi have all garnered national attention. Additionally, Tremont West recognizes the importance of The shift in the gallery model toward non-traditional space expanding the perceived boundaries of the neighborhood poses challenges for artists who may not be accustomed to leverage the Tremont brand and encourage development to working outside of more formal gallery spaces. However, in “Greater Tremont” beyond the traditional arts district. Tremont continues to offer a mix of options for displaying The most visible part of this effort has been the aggressive art and remains a fertile ground for new and burgeoning use of Tremont branded signage outside of what is artists. The neighborhood also continues to find new traditionally viewed as Tremont’s arts district. Visitors ways to keep arts and culture opportunities available to are now greeted with signage and banners at the ensure they are meeting the evolving desires of residents neighborhood’s gateways along Clark, W. 25th, and parts and arts patrons alike. of Scranton. These areas have largely missed out on the Local Placekeeping, Regional Placemaking arts-based economic revival in the neighborhood’s core Even in cases where an artist, whether due to issues of further north. By expanding what is perceived as Tremont affordability or not, chooses to live outside of the it is hoped that many of these benefits, like an improved
70 housing stock and rejuvenated commercial districts, will >The Cleveland Bazaar, once known as Bazaar Bizarre naturally begin to expand outward. Cleveland, is Cleveland’s longest running indie crafts show, operating for over a decade. Throughout several Finally, Tremont West is currently working with Angelica shows a year, one can find dozens upon dozens of indie Pozo to develop an innovative artist-in-residence program artists and vendors, all of whom display unusual and cre- for Tremont that would be geared toward developing art ative treasures. Items for sale range from earrings made with, by, and for residents. The proposed program, which from old vinyl records to designer tote bags made from is designed with existing Tremont artists in mind, could recycled plastic bags. The funky, alternative, and eclectic potentially buffer said artists from continued increases in vibe draws people to the craft shows, which helps the rents and property values, helping to create strong artistic Cleveland Bazaar reach its goals –to draw people out of anchors that act as a foundation for neighborhood arts the malls and into the neighborhoods to support local and culture. “We continue to look for ways to express and regional artists. [Tremont’s special qualities] to make it a desirable place to live,” Rosenstein says. Website: http://www.clevelandbazaar.org/
Rosenstein admits to feeling a twinge of concern as other Cleveland neighborhoods seek to grow their art presence: “Arts funding is always competitive. From the standpoint of community development, that’s a shrinking pot. As more and more neighborhoods go after grants, it gets more competitive.”
His concern is also more basic than competition for limited buyers and grant resources; it’s a matter of civic pride: “The thought crossed my mind that I was so… proud of Tremont that I wanted it to be unique.”
Despite wanting to maintain Tremont’s special qualities, Rosenstein says he now welcomes more communities to follow Tremont’s lead: “I was a little threatened by some [of what has been going on in the other Cleveland neighborhoods], but a rising tide lifts all boats.” Rosenstein says. “As West 25th Street [in Ohio City] has done better, Cleveland Bazaar at 78th Street Studios / Photo courtesy of CPAC I think there’s a spillover effect. As communities grow and they become connected more and more, I think it builds up all the neighborhoods. It helps each area to be more desirable.”
Votava echoes Rosenstein’s concerns about competition, but he believes neighborhoods must focus on their different assets. “We attract a very specific crowd,” he says. “I go out all over the place. Ohio City is a very different crowd. Each neighborhood has to look at what makes it attractive.”
Tremont has successfully demonstrated that when neighborhoods focus on their unique assets they not only improve the lives of their own residents, but also contribute to a stronger regional mix of amenities for Cleveland’s visitors and residents. 71 case study St. Clair Superior: Creative Reuse
Cleveland’s St. Clair Superior neighborhood is making a name for itself finding value where so many others see waste. Whether in empty 2-liter soda bottles, unwanted vinyl flooring remnants, discarded sterile packaging material, or abandoned two-story homes, the Upcycle St. Clair project sees repurposing as the path to this neighborhood’s revitalization.
“Hope Sketch” was aimed to transform a portion of the St. Clair Avenue streetscape between East 61st Street and Addison Avenue through a temporary installation using the collective input of neighborhood residents, businesses and stakeholders / Photo courtesy of LAND studio 72 Visual artist Nicole McGee describes upcycling as a >Located on E 47th St. in Cleveland’s Midtown process that takes a material other people don’t assign neighborhood, the Morgan Art of Papermaking value to, and which is otherwise headed for a landfill or Conservatory and Educational Foundation is an recycling plant, and creatively transforms it into a valuable organization dedicated to preserving the art and production object. She is also part of a broader partnership with the of hand papermaking. The organization is primarily St. Clair Superior Development Corporation (SCSDC) education-driven, teaching people how to make paper by to leverage this upcycling spirit in the neighborhood hand. Currently the Morgan Papermaking Conservatory through a project called “Upcycle St. Clair.” In June 2013, teaches people papermaking, book arts, letter press, the Upcycle St. Clair project was awarded a $375,000 grant and silk printing. from ArtPlace America, a consortium of six banks and 13 The organization also offers students internships and national and regional foundations. The 18-month grant is being actively promotes education. The goal is to establish used to pursue an arts-based strategy that dovetails with the Morgan Papermaking Conservatory as an anchor placemaking efforts already underway in the neighborhood. encouraging artists to stay in Cleveland. The exhibit
“This is not the only arts-based strategy we have, but it is space displays invitational portfolios, which provide a clearly the most significant both from the scope and from platform to paper artists. Beyond their educational and the fundraising capacity,” says SCSDC Executive Director preservation goals, the Morgan Papermaking Conservatory
Michael Fleming. Counting the ArtPlace America grant, also aims to provide locally-sourced materials for their the SCSDC has raised more than $500,000 to help revitalize products through their garden. The garden has 51 kozo the St. Clair Superior neighborhood east of E. 55th Street. trees for Japanese paper, as well as other plants, like
“That doesn’t even include housing, which we are also indigo, to make dyes unique to the organization. working on.” Website: http://morganconservatory.org/ Fleming says the ArtPlace funding for the Upcycle St. Clair project is providing a “hook” for the Retail Ready economic development strategy the SCSDC launched in 2012: “The ArtPlace component is infusing our existing efforts with the arts,” Fleming says. “We had a really interesting business strategy behind this.”
The Retail Ready program provides small grants and free rent to businesses that want to move into vacant storefronts on St. Clair Avenue. Although the project was attracting support from potential business owners and the media, Fleming says his group realized “that there wasn’t that clever hook that neighborhoods need. We wanted to make sure that we included the arts in there. So, when we pulled those two together, we saw that a lot of our artists were doing upcycling. Either creating art or doing something for sale, but basically everyone was doing something in that sort of creative reuse model.
The Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation is home Building the “Art Quarter” to the largest kozo (Japanese Mulberry) garden in the midwest. These plants are For more than a decade, artists have been migrating to harvested every fall during a free community event and used throughout the year in eastern-style hand papermaking / Photo by Lauren Sammon the St. Clair Superior neighborhood, home to a mix of industrial and residential buildings stretching along the two east-west avenues from E. 18th Street to E. 65th Street. In 2002, the neighborhood became designated a 73 CASE STUDY > St. Clair Superior: Creative Reuse
Live-Work Overlay District, the first in Cleveland, which spurred growth in the neighborhood’s arts and culture presence. For example, Tower Press, a century-old industrial site at E. 19th and Superior, was the first live-work loft project developed under the new zoning ordinance enacted by the city to encourage the development of artist studio spaces. Of the facility’s eighty units, sixteen were made available at under market value rates to accommodate artists. In another converted warehouse along E. 30th Street, Zygote Press provides printmaking facilities and individual studio space, Terra Vista Studios offers airy workspace for ceramic artists, and ArtSpace Cleveland works to help local artists find affordable build on its success in attracting artists to grow retail live-work options. The LoftWorks Building, a former presences and expand economic activity, all the way to automotive plant at the corner of E. 40th Street and the neighborhood’s easternmost edge. To continue building Payne Avenue, now houses a photography studio, galleries on this momentum, the SCSDC wanted to develop a and a jewelry designer. strategy for leveraging the neighborhood’s underappreciated objects and places from a new perspective.
Creative Upcycling In 2002, the [St. Clair Fleming approached McGee in February 2012 about the placemaking and retail potential of creative reuse. “We Superior] neighborhood activate vacant retail spaces,” says McGee, whose Collective Upcycle shop has popped up in empty storefronts became designated a around greater Cleveland, including, Gordon Square, Shaker Square, and the Fifth Street Arcade. “Part of the Live-Work Overlay District, goal of the Collective Upcycling effort was to create an ongoing retail experience” to keep people interested the first in Cleveland, in local products and raise awareness of “the value of secondhand.” which spurred growth in Today, the ArtPlace grant is supporting the creation of the neighborhood’s arts Collective Upcycle’s permanent home on St. Clair, where sixty regional upcyclists will display their products at the store, similar to the Ten Thousand Villages model, as and culture presence. described by McGee. To be considered “upcycled,” 75 percent of each product must be a resourceful reuse of other products. Products will be sold on consignment, The growing concentration of artists and arts and culture with seventy percent of each sale going to the artist organizations led to the area’s renaming in 2007; it is now and thirty percent going to the store. “Artists from all known as the Cleveland Art Quarter. The ArtPlace over the region will be featured,” McGee says, “but they grant is allowing the St. Clair Superior neighborhood to have to upcycle.” McGee says the goal of the Upcycle St. Clair project is to build an economy around the practice. “We’ve sold the goods of 65 upcyclists [through the pop-up events], and there are way more out there… We’ve proven the model. The pop-up model has definitely worked.”
74 Adding to the Upcycle St. Clair marketplace will be a >The ongoing Collective Upcycle pop-up shop, now creative resource center, which McGee will run. This center entering its third year, and the new Upcycle Parts will function as a “thrift store” for craft supplies culled Shop (launched in Spring 2014) each share a common from waste products. Artists, teachers and other creative founder—Nicole McGee. Her personal artistic expression, types may find inspiration amid fabric remnants, wallpaper is manifested through her company Plenty Underfoot, rolls, washers, sterile equipment packaging, or even a box whose products can be found throughout Northeast Ohio, full of wine corks. “If you have two corks from a wine from restaurants to non-profits. McGee has championed bottle, you probably wouldn’t think of a use for them, upcycling for years, and her business has transformed but if you had a big box of corks, then that inspires countless discarded products into jewelry and home imagination,” McGee says. “We’re taking materials that furnishings. can’t be recycled and finding a different use for them.” McGee is also planning to launch what she calls the “Shop the Window project,” displaying various artisans’ She envisions a mutually beneficial arrangement. “We’re upcycling products in otherwise empty storefronts and helping them [the suppliers] get rid of things” they see allowing shoppers to purchase items through the ease as waste. Meanwhile, artists have access to inexpensive, of Quick Response (QR) codes. The potential for this imagination-inspiring supplies, and the St. Clair neighborhood project is considerable given how vendors across the gets an innovative new business. nation and around the world have successfully used QR McGee admits to building on the model of ZeroLandfill, codes to enable commuters, pedestrians, and window an upcycling program that channels outdated samples of shoppers to buy everything from groceries to Christmas interior designers and architecture firms into the hands of presents through their smartphones. McGee has her eye artists and arts educators in need of creative supplies. The on an empty storefront in Shaker Square but plans to ZeroLandfill program began in Northeast Ohio in 2006 experiment with the process in other high-traffic sites and has since spread to about twenty markets throughout throughout the area. Ideally, McGee says, the “activated” the nation. McGee says she was also inspired by the work vacant storefronts will help artists sell products, raise of the Scrap Exchange in Durham, North Carolina, which the visibility of individual artists, and increase recogni- has served as a model for collecting materials from local tion of upcycling in general. Through her own and other businesses and distributing them to artists, craft-makers, artists’ upcycled art, McGee has shown that upcycling is a and arts educators. McGee envisions her Upcycle Parts personal passion she is determined to share. Shop as a means to engage the community not just in Website: http://www.plentyunderfoot.com/ retail activity, but also through community partnerships and workshops.
In addition to the Collective Upcycle and the Upcycle Parts establishments, the ArtPlace grant will help create a permanent home for the Cleveland Flea. The Flea, described on its website as “part urban treasure hunt, part culinary adventure, part maker center,” began in February 2013 as a marketplace for about twenty vendors as part of the Kurentovanje or Slovenian Carnival Festival. The St. Clair Superior neighborhood that is the ArtPlace grant’s target has a rich Slovenian history, encompassing the historic Slovenian National Home and nearby St. Vitus, Cleveland’s first Slovenian Catholic parish.
Nicole McGee (pictured) / Photo by Bob Perkoski
75 CASE STUDY > St. Clair Superior: Creative Reuse
The Flea returned to the neighborhood in April as a Saturday market day for local artists, artisans, and vendors, and has continued to take place monthly in various locations around the neighborhood.
Fleming depicts the upcycling strategy—adding value to something seemingly valueless—as complementary to grassroots up.” Fleming makes clear “the buildings targeted other revitalization efforts underway in the neighborhood, for the program aren’t falling apart—they’re not burned- including a partnership with Loft Home Builders, Inc. and out buildings, they are just closed up.” Since Fall 2012, the the Cuyahoga Land Bank, to develop affordable, desirable Retail Ready offer of small business loans and six months’ housing options. The home renovation plan converts free rent has attracted four new establishments—a dance vacant, outdated two-story duplexes into single-family studio, a genealogical society, Santana’s Artist Gallery and homes with open and airy floor plans. Because the a coffee and bakery shop. “Part of what we wanted was redesign eliminates some of the structural, electrical, and to import a number of businesses all at once,” Fleming ductwork components, the homes can be rehabbed for says. “The problem was that not everything fit the space. $10,000 to $15,000—only a few thousand dollars more The infrastructure has taken time to develop.” than it would cost to tear them down. So far, two houses
in the neighborhood have been gutted and rehabbed
as part of the effort; four more are under way. The two Upcycle St. Clair has renovated homes rent for $400 to $500 a month. “We
wanted this to be an artist-driven housing project,” Fleming “more than just an arts says; so far the plan seems to be working: He has a waiting
list of thirty people, mostly artists, hoping to move in. focus—we’re pairing Building the Broader Community “Arts are happening here,” Fleming says. Upcycle St. Clair, it with economic however, has “more than just an arts focus —we’re pairing it with economic development.” development.”
Consequently, the SCSDC has looked toward their Retail
Ready economic development strategy, modeled after Infrastructure refers to more than simply the physical a similar program in Bethesda, Maryland. That program, presence of adequate buildings and roads; it also entails called the Vibrant Streets Initiative, bills itself as a toolkit the know-how for creating a product, gauging a potential for helping communities grow retail spaces “from the market, accessing funds, and starting a new business. The
SCSDC development strategy is part business attraction
and part business creation modeling. Witnessing the creativity
going on around them and experiencing upcycling
opportunities through workshops and other community
events encourages residents to think, “I can do this. I can
make this,” Fleming says. Collective Upcycle and the Flea
give potential neighborhood entrepreneurs sales outlets
to test their products’ viability. Over time, the budding
entrepreneurs may be able to expand their products
into storefront businesses. “We’re laying out all the
steps for people,” he says.
76 CASE STUDY > St. Clair Superior: Creative Reuse
Though the Upcycle St. Clair program zeroes in on the traditionally Slovenian commercial district along St. Clair Avenue between E. 60th and E. 65th Street, Fleming believes the development strategy’s benefits will spill into other parts of the ethnically diverse neighborhood. As an example, he cites the artists and artisans living and working in the AsiaTown district along St. Clair and Superior Avenues a few blocks west. Those artists, he says, need public exposure and retail access to help sell their creations. The neighborhood’s overall marketability is also enhanced by its convenient highway access and its proximity to both downtown and University Circle’s and even outside the region to their area, exposing them cultural attractions and health industry hub. These factors to the positive changes taking place in the community. would indicate that a spark in the Slovenian commercial Long-established businesses have reported increasing district could potentially lead to spillovers for the rest of numbers of customers coming in to shop, eat, or browse, the neighborhood. Fleming says. “That exposure is really, really helpful.”
To encourage the neighborhood-wide appeal, the SCSDC has been using art to engage the public and brand the neighborhood. On an empty lot at the corner of St. Clair “It’s important that and E. 64th Street, a kiosk system containing doors on seven turnstiles label the neighborhood “ST CLAIR” and we’re building the area invite residents to share their visions for the community. In the future, Fleming and McGee envision a vibrant and not parachuting streetscape of color designating a revitalized retail district. “Part of what we want to do with coloring the street is into the community. to make sure we have impact beyond the grant,” McGee says. “It’s important that we’re building the area and not It’s important that we’re parachuting into the community. It’s important that we’re building community, not just ‘doing something’ to it.” building community,
While Fleming says some St. Clair Superior residents tend not just ‘doing something’ to see the neighborhood’s better days firmly in the past, he hopes the SCSDC’s efforts will encourage them to to it.” “be positive about their neighborhood again.” Unique placemaking activities, like those provided by the Flea and
Upcycle shops, attract people from outside the neighborhood,
The parallel between the work of local upcyclists and the
SCSDC is clear—both are innovatively taking something
that is undervalued, whether it’s a piece of scrap material
or a whole neighborhood, and reimagining it as something
far more valuable. “We’re polishing off and uncovering the
assets that are here,” McGee says. “It’s the strategy that
feels like it makes the most sense. What we have around
us and underfoot is what we need.”
77 case study Public Art: Placemaking in Action
Public art is intrinsically linked to the character of its public spaces. Public art can also test local perceptions: Is painting on the exterior of buildings creative expression or unwelcome graffiti? Are statues and displays worthwhile uses of limited funds, especially when communities are faced with difficult issues like poverty, joblessness, and failing schools? Such questions are important to consider as public art is increasingly valued by developers and community leaders alike for its power to build and brand neighborhoods, leverage existing assets and reveal future purpose.
Pocket Park in North Shore Collinwood, Cleveland, OH / Photo by Seth Beattie 78 “Public art” can be a challenging term to define. Murals on exterior Zoetic> Walls came to fruition as part of an ArtPlace grant walls that commuters pass by every day and statues in public Waterloo Arts received to stage three exhibits, each ex- parks would certainly fall within the definition. However, the ploring the theme of vacancy. Funds from the grant were definitional gray areas of public art are where questions most also used to create a “Welcome to Collinwood” website. often arise. In the case of the statue, does public art also Nick Marzullo, a native Clevelander who created extend to the essential components of the park in which it the organization Pawn Works in Chicago with street art resides? Can the definition be applied to benches that invite as a focus, saw the website and contacted Amy Callahan, commuters to sit and rest while they wait for a bus? director of Waterloo Arts. Callahan admits to being Surprisingly enough, many designers would argue yes. largely unfamiliar with street art before Marzullo started talking to her about staging an event in Cleveland. The “Public art in the most traditional sense is the insertion of collaboration was a success, and Marzullo’s relationships with beautiful and meaningful structures” into public spaces, artists have helped Callahan stretch her shoestring budget, says Terry Schwarz, director of Kent State University’s allowing her to get 10 murals painted for roughly $14,000. Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC), which is headquartered in Playhouse Square. Understood this way, An interesting twist to the project is that much of the public art’s definition can be expanded to include sidewalk art around the neighborhood is temporary. Three murals pavers, well-designed transit shelters, and beautiful trash were even painted on buildings scheduled for demolition. cans. “It’s not about looking at an individual paving or trash This impermanent quality encourages freedom for exploration can. It’s the haptic experience of the overall space. The paving and creativity, particularly when compared to the planning and trash cans add up to the point of changing people’s and rules that involve erecting a new building or a new perception of a neighborhood.” sign. “This is transitional art that allows you to not invest Art’s relationship and overlap with utilitarian elements so much time,” Callahan says. She hopes that adding create a condition in which public art and public spaces are interest to the walls of buildings around the community intrinsically linked. “We would point out our front window will call attention to the destruction and demolition that at Market Square Park [in Ohio City] and ask is it art or have leveled a number of the neighborhood’s blocks. “A is it a park?” says Ann Zoller, executive director of LAND mural gets you attached in the way that you should be studio, a nonprofit organization that seeks out opportunities attached to a building,” she says. Translation: “Maybe it at the intersection of art, landscape, neighborhoods, and means you’ll notice” if it gets torn down. development. “Or is it a combination of both? The park Website: http://artscollinwood.org/zoetic-walls/ component is very much reliant on the art component.” Despite public art’s somewhat abstract and porous nature, it nonetheless represents a powerful tool for placemaking by sparking community dialogue, nurturing community potential, and by helping residents envision new uses for old spaces. In all three functions of placemaking, public art can help inject energy and investment into neighborhoods. Spurring Dialogue Amy Callahan, director of Waterloo Arts (formerly Arts Collinwood), admits to thinking a lot about the nature of public art in 2013. Callahan spent the year overseeing and watching Zoetic Walls come to life, a project of 10 murals painted by various local, national and international artists on buildings around Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood. “I naively thought when we started this project that it would be simple,” Callahan says. On the Internet, Callahan Brooklyn artist, RAE (pictured) painting a mural in North Collinwood for Waterloo Arts’ Zoetic Walls project in 2013 / Photo by Seth Beattie
79 CASE STUDY > Public Art: Placemaking in Action
found pictures of murals in cities around the world and wondered, “wouldn’t it just be cool to go paint murals, and everyone will love them?”
As it turns out, not everyone in Collinwood loves the
murals, which were completed in June 2013. “You just
get a reaction much faster when you put up art in public
areas than if you put anything else up,” Callahan says.
People expect to see billboards, telephone poles, and
business signs in their public spaces, but “as soon as you
put up a piece of art, a million opinions start to fly.” Some
residents were angry about a mural in a prominent spot
on the corner of Waterloo Road and East 156th Street
that was painted by Argentinean artist Ever. Questions for
Callahan abounded like “why did the man in the painting Nurturing Potential resemble Fidel Castro?” and “why would she allow a mural Neighborhoods often find public art not only starts that seemed to promote communism?” Other residents conversations, as was the case with Zoetic Walls, but questioned the meaning of another mural in which an also shifts the existing conversation about the neighborhood individual is shown wearing a gas mask. “Was the artist in a positive direction. This is true for Slavic Village, a calling their neighborhood ‘stinky’?” they asked. Still others neighborhood that at one point was referred to as the wondered why artists from outside of the community epicenter of the foreclosure crisis. In the wake of this were commissioned to create art within it. Callahan designation, Slavic Village’s master plan for redevelopment understands such perspectives from community members hinged on the neighborhood’s Morgana Run Trail, and says the exchange of energy that comes from public Cleveland’s first multipurpose rails-to-trails project. As creations is worth some people disliking the work. In fact, part of this trail, Slavic Village Development partnered Callahan purposefully did not seek to approve sketches with LAND studio and artist Jake Beckman to develop or ask to see plans. She did not want to “pick” at the art. Rotaflora, a 35-foot-tall whimsical flower sculpture made “To me that sort of ends up killing the energy that is so of bicycle wheels to mark the trailhead and give the positive,” she says. “I’m OK not loving everything.” neighborhood a focal point. These investments were a “Not loving everything” is often what leads to public strong statement affirming the neighborhood’s rebirth, conversation and debate. Callahan describes an encounter particularly to the thousands of commuters that pass the that occurred when a resident began yelling that one of Rotaflora—or “Dr. Seuss Dandelion,” as it is affectionately the artists should go paint “in his own neighborhood.” referred to by LAND studio’s Managing Director Another resident who lived near where the mural was Gregory Peckham. being painted came out to ask why the critic was giving A few miles away, an 18-foot-tall statue of a trumpet the artist such a hard time. “I feel like even those kinds of player heralds the Art & Soul of Cleveland’s Buckeye criticisms are fine,” Callahan says. “They create a dialogue.” neighborhood, transforming a park into a statement about the community and its values. In this case, as with Slavic Village’s Rotaflora, the power of public art to define communities is quite clear. “We can cite a dozen instances where we finished a project with a strong visible public art piece and immediately it was adopted on the front of organizations’ annual reports,” Peckham says. “Almost universally, the photographic landmarks in a city are these unusual public art pieces that define places.”
80 >A Chicago native, Terry Schwarz moved to Cleveland “There’s growing consensus in 1990 after receiving her Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University. She worked among our partners that for the Shaker Heights City Planning Department for ten years before becoming the director of Kent State [public art and public University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC), the university’s architecture graduate program space] matters. There is specializing in urban design. In 2009, she was awarded the Mid-Career Artists Award from the Cleveland recognition that investment Arts Prize. in public spaces is an In 2005, Terry Schwarz started the Shrinking Cities Institute, which aimed to explore the implications of large-scale population loss and urban vacancy. The Institute economic development tool.” organized exhibits, symposiums, and research efforts to start a conversation about the City of Cleveland’s urban These types of public art projects, however, serve as more transition. From this, Pop Up City was born. Examples than visual landmarks and tools for neighborhood branding. of Pop-Up events include Leap Night, in which a vacant In fact, the potential economic development impact of these lot was transformed into a snow and ice installation projects has, according to Zoller and Peckham, received on leap day; Bridge Mixx, a night celebration on a greater acceptance among both private developers and pedestrian bridge; and Pop Up Rockwell, a one-week political leaders. Starting in 2003, the City of Cleveland’s experiment to test complete and green street improvements required 1.5 percent of the budget for each new municipal on Rockwell Avenue in downtown Cleveland. This construction or improvement project go toward artwork, endeavor aimed to create programs that activated which was a codified recognition of private and political vacant and underutilized space throughout the city. The acceptance. “There’s growing consensus among our partners goal in each case was to inspire people to think of these that [public art and public space] matters. There is recognition areas differently and come up with unique solutions that investment in public spaces is an economic development and uses for the vast amount of these places existing tool,” Zoller says. A decade ago, “we were more easily throughout Cleveland. dismissed as the nice little park people.” Back then, funding for public art pieces tended to derive from “money that was Website: http://www.cudc.kent.edu/about_us/people/ left over” after major development projects were completed. Now, there is a growing sense that the public art itself is a “difference maker” for neighborhoods. Because of art’s growing significance for a community, Zoller and Peckham have noticed that private developers increasingly initiate the conversation with LAND studio, seeking their input on projects around the city. This dialogue bolsters existing evidence for the growing consensus that quality of place, often enhanced through public art, is strongly linked to economic activity.
Leap Night was the first large scale event of the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative’s Pop Up City initiative / Photo by Natalie Kontur
81 >LAND studio has facilitated place-making efforts A New Perspective throughout Cleveland. In 2012 alone, LAND studio Public art has the power to spur dialogue and help nurture installed 32 public art works and spent $1.8 million a community, in addition to reimagining old, forgotten, or on design and implementation. LAND studio projects otherwise undesirable spaces. Both LAND studio and employed 127 artists and 39 contractors last year. “We Kent State University’s CUDC have been involved in these spend a tremendous amount [of money] on artists and types of projects, but each is taking a different approach. landscape architects and people like that,” LAND studio
managing director Greg Peckham says. “We certainly
employ a lot of contract work, and people who fabricate Public art has the power local art projects are mostly all local workers. That’s
where there is direct tangible economic impact. When to spur dialogue and help anybody builds public art, there are all these people
involved in making it, putting it together, putting it in nurture a community, in the ground.”
LAND studio staff, working in separate organizations addition to reimagining
before a 2011 merger brought the thirty-year-efforts of
Cleveland Public Art and ParkWorks together, helped the old, forgotten, or otherwise
Slavic Village Development Corporation plant its new
vision for the neighborhood with Rotaflora. LAND studio undesirable spaces.
facilitates the creation of these defining pieces by
helping match neighborhoods to artists. Selected artists
work with neighborhood leaders, residents, and other The CUDC’s Pop Up City initiative focuses on temporary
stakeholders to develop works that reflect the image and short-term interventions for vacant and foreclosed
communities want to convey. LAND Studio executive sites. The CUDC website highlights the opportunity:
director, Ann Zoller, adds: “Our work can be very symbolic “Established by the CUDC in 2007, Pop Up City is a
in telling the story of what a neighborhood is hoping to program that brings empty places to life through magical,
achieve in a real physical way.” ephemeral experiences that demonstrate how vacancy
can be an opportunity and an adventure, not just a liability.” Website: http://www.land-studio.org/ Though Pop Up City was initially seen as a way of
“reactivating the city,” CUDC’s Director Terry Schwarz
suggests the short-term nature of the activities has proven
to be a useful community engagement tool. “They help
us make better design decisions,” says Schwarz, who is
nationally known for her upbeat and innovative approaches
to transforming struggling cities. “They help engage the
public in ways that we could not with a PowerPoint
[presentation]. It gives people an opportunity to inhabit a
future design, [and] to experience what a place could
be like.”
“Rotaflora”, LAND studio worked with Slavic Village Development to develop a marker for the trail’s East 49th Street trailhead / Photo courtesy of LAND studio
82 CASE STUDY > Public Art: Placemaking in Action
away from the street, which made access inconvenient for those most likely to use them, such as mass transit riders. Both parks had “outlived their useful lives,” Peckham says. Infrastructure was crumbling. Safety was an issue because of the lack of sight lines through the parks. “They were no longer functioning how the community wanted. They had For example, one of Pop Up City’s early projects involved to look and function differently.” transforming a vacant lot on the East Bank of the Flats LAND studio helped to facilitate a $3 million redevelopment into a family-friendly winter wonderland for Leap Night of Perk Park and a $1 million redesign of Market Square 2008. With funding from the Civic Innovation Lab, the Park. The positive effects of both projects, which were group created fire pits, a winter forest, an ice skating rink, completed in 2012, include an increase in nearby storefront a snowboard ramp, and snow and ice installations. The site businesses opening. Long perceived as uninviting and unsafe, was already owned by a developer, but redevelopment had the redesigned Perk Park, with its expansive red canopy, been slow to materialize. Schwarz says the pop up event concrete chairs and mood lighting, now draws lunching was meant to remind the public why this site’s development, workers, young families, and dog walkers to an acre of where the Cuyahoga River meets Lake Erie, was so tree-lined downtown greenspace at Chester Avenue and important to the city. “There was just something about East 12th Street. On Wednesdays during summer months, the Flats that nobody was going,” Schwarz says “We visitors can enjoy a free outdoor concert while they dine on were trying to change the perception about the Flats.” lunch from a nearby food truck. Market Square Park is Beyond changing perceptions, the project exposed the serving as a “pivot point” to expand commercial development site developer to possibilities for public use. along West 25th Street south of Lorain Avenue. For both Through another event in 2012, Pop Up City created a projects, it is hard to tell where “the park stops and the temporary streetscape downtown on Rockwell Avenue. art begins,” Zoller says, because the public art and the The City of Cleveland had passed a Complete and Green public park space are so tightly integrated. Market Square Streets ordinance the year before, requiring 20 percent Park’s inviting landscaping, funky BookBox mini-library, of all road-construction budgets go toward making the coordinated wooden furnishings, and large mural projects friendlier to pedestrians, bicyclists, people with celebrating the craftsmanship of Market District products disabilities, and the environment. work together to create a cohesive public space.
The temporary streetscape, dubbed “Pop Up Rockwell,” was “When you say design, people think about fancy shoes in place for one week as an effort to help people envision rather than thinking about how you make something potential outcomes of the ordinance. It featured a dedicated that solves a problem,” Peckham says. “But when people two-lane bike path, or “cycletrack,” marked out with duct experience [a well-designed public space] they know that tape, as well as demonstration “bi-fi” sidewalk benches, which it feels right to them… Public art is a part of that.” filter storm runoff while providing Wi-Fi access to those using the bench. “Basically the project was about taking an ordinance and giving it physical form,” Schwarz says. A physical representation allows people to interact with and better articulate their desired uses for a space.
LAND studio’s projects, on the other hand, have tended to be more permanent. Take for example, Perk Park downtown and Market Square in Ohio City. Each was originally designed and built in the 1970s, a time when different sensibilities regarding public spaces were the norm. During that time, public spaces were often designed
83 case study Artist Activists: Heightening Social Awareness
Art can capture beauty; art can convey whimsy. Art can be commercial or personal, trendy or traditional, introspective or outward-looking. Art can also inspire collective action—even if that action is as simple as making us more aware of the consequences of our daily decisions.
“Reflection of Self” / Photo by Donald Black Jr. 84 The revelatory power of art makes it a powerful medium >The Center for Artistic Activism was founded in 2007 for shining a light on society. For millennia, artists have by Steve Lambert and Stephen Duncombe to study and expressed their emotions, reflected on their societies, and share research that surrounds the intersection between art spurred greater social consciousness through their work. and activism. Among the organization’s board members The nonprofit Center for Artistic Activism goes even further, are a wide array of academics and artists, such as Jacques stating that art is the “bridge that connects uncommon, Servin, co-founder of the internationally recognized group idealistic, or even radical ideas with everyday life.” This case the Yes Men. The group uses media tactics, including study highlights two Cleveland artists who use the arts to impersonating high-level government and corporate raise public awareness of, and interest in, pressing issues officials to make statements that deliberately contradict they see around them in greater Cleveland. Donald Black, the actual policy platforms of particular organizations. Jr., 33, has focused his hybridized photography techniques Lambert and Duncombe, recognizing the power that a on exploring issues of foreclosure, father-son relationships, dedicated non-profit could wield, set to work developing and racial divides, while Mimi Kato, 39, is shedding light, quite a robust organization with dedicated programs to support literally, on the spreading problem of invasive plant species. the Center’s mission. These included programs like the
“I have a hope for change” School for Creative Activism, a training program for
Black-and-white photography projects an image in contrast, grassroots activists on how to use creativity and the arts but nuances and distinctions lie in the gray values. Activist to win campaigns. Conversely, the weekend-long Art Action artists help to frame life’s “gray areas” and bring them Academy—a workshop offered by the Center—was into greater focus, Black says. By “creating artwork with a designed to engage artists interested in using their talents heightened social aspect to it, we’re looking for some in change-making campaigns. According to the Center’s kind of change to occur. . . I look at photography as very mission, “Creative activism is more than just an innovative synonymous with how I perceive things; I’ve used it as a tactic, it is an entire approach: a perspective, a practice, a metaphor for how I live.” philosophy. Our goal is to make more creative activists and
more effective artists. We aim to win.” A turning point for Black came while he was working in New York City building a small but successful commercial Website: http://artisticactivism.org/ enterprise offering discount headshots to aspiring actors. He submitted his portfolio to a magazine editor, who recalling the pose struck by hip-hop artist Mos Def on reviewed his body of work and declared that he needed his 2004 album, The New Danger. Those photos became a to “photograph more white people,” Black says. “It wasn’t series Black called “The Crisis of Realism.” conscious that I was photographing only black people. I The exchange not only sent him in a different direction— was photographing mostly black people because that was encouraging him to reduce his commercial work so he who I was around,” he says. “I started wondering whether could spend more time exploring what he wanted to a photographer who photographed mostly white people, say as an artist—but it also helped bring him home to whether anyone, would say ‘you need to photograph Cleveland. “I had to do all sorts of jobs in New York to more black people.’” pay my rent. There was a huge economic benefit to moving Black thought about all of his favorite photographers and back to Cleveland. It cleared my mind financially,” he says. how his attraction to them was predominantly based on “My only purpose for going to New York was to get away their technical expertise. In particular, he had always been from home, to test to see if I could rise to the challenge.” drawn to high-end studio photographs—photos that did He had started working with students in New York and, not include a “huge array of black faces.” The comment upon returning to Cleveland, led summer programs nevertheless clicked with him. “It sent me in a different through the arts education group, Center for Arts-Inspired direction completely from the time I left the meeting.” He Learning (formerly Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio). went home and painted his roommate in blackface, Black worked with teens and preteens in a variety of
85 >The Center for Arts-Inspired Learning, formerly known after-school programs, teaching them about photography as Young Audiences, aims to enrich the lives of children as well as life. “The whole goal is ‘what do you want to through arts education while promoting creative learning. say?’” he notes. “Ultimately what you’re doing is about you, The Center works with professional teaching artists who whether you are aware of it or not.” He quickly realized are experts in their fields, ranging from dance, theater, his story—growing up learning to draw from his mother, and music to digital and visual arts. The Center also puts finding refuge from the neighborhood violence at school on workshops and has artist-in-residence programs. The where he won a spot at Cleveland School of the Arts, and 120 teaching artists help students from Pre-K through pursuing a passion for photographic technique and artistry 12th grade explore art and use it to grow, learn, and succeed at Ohio University—meant more to kids in Cleveland in the classroom. Throughout its sixty-year lifespan, the than in New York. When he was invited to work with the organization has served over seven million students in Center for Arts-Inspired Learning students for a second eighteen Northeast Ohio counties and has helped countless summer, Black opted to return to his roots. He never went more through its advocacy, professional development, back to New York. and community programs. That was the summer of 2008—the year of the great Website: http://arts-inspiredlearning.org U.S. financial crisis that threatened the global economy. Cleveland had already been impacted by the subprime mortgage meltdown, exemplified by the vast amount of boarded-up, abandoned homes. Black focused his artist’s eye on the issue. “It was very personal,” says Black, whose mother had worked as a general contractor when he was young and would participate in city-sponsored weatherization programs. When he drove around the city, he would see boarded-up homes he had shared with his mother throughout his childhood. Black had seen a couple of photography shows documenting the spate of foreclosures, but the photos had always been external shots of the houses. Those images felt distant and removed—and he was neither distant nor removed from what was going on in his hometown: “I became really attracted to what was inside the houses—the life inside. I was attracted to [the fact] that this was my community, [home to] a lot of people who look like me.”
Center for Arts-Inspired Learning Teaching Artist, Mark Yasancheck worked with 150 students from Cleveland’s Paul Revere Elementary to create In addition to his camera, he grabbed a screw gun, which murals for the exterior of the school. Learning patterns, shapes, painting he used to peel boards off of doors to gain entry to techniques, and art history, the students designed the 12 murals as part of the vacant homes. Of the houses he explored, he had a special school beautification project / Photo by Joe Ionna personal ties to only one, a house where his aunt had lived.
86 CASE STUDY > Artist Activists: Heightening Social Awareness
Hanging above the display was a 15- by 9-foot photograph of a young black boy and his father, heads meeting over “I felt like I was documenting some level of poverty. the chess board. Models for the photograph were Black’s Being in my aunt’s house was like holding up a mirror. ‘Oh, cousin and his cousin’s young son, but the story they tell wow, I’m a part of this,’ ” he says. “I went in the house to is his personal one about finding moments of connection see what story was left.” He compiled a huge body of amid dysfunction. “I’m creating what I didn’t see or what work—gritty black-and-white images of toys and trash I saw in a very scarce kind of way,” Black says. “It turned and total abandonment. Then, he stopped. He thought into wonderful dialogue. Everyone who learned to play foreclosure photography was becoming too popular, chess seemed to have learned from their dad or granddad.” even cliché. He didn’t want his work to be misperceived Black is developing a new project he hopes to unveil in as simply one more example of exploitative “ruin porn.” 2014. This work will break down and dissect terms and “I didn’t want to document ruins,” he says. “I was trying concepts both familiar and fractious. School. Prison. Poverty. to be a voice for those inside the house, for those who He focuses on examining and exploring “figures and didn’t seem to have a voice.” objects and symbols to tell my story,” he says. “I’m working After completing his project on foreclosed homes in on a body of work about public education and my urban neighborhoods, Black moved on to explore what perception of it as a kid and an educator. The education he perceived to be another sort of vacancy within urban system is killing our kids so I’ll visually explore that, visual families: absentee fathers. “The Power of the Pieces” was representation of factory-style learning.” He wants to a temporary art installation Black developed in 2011 that convey perceptions of institutions in the black community recalled the relationship Black built with his own absentee that breed dependence. “I have a desire to be the one to father through chess. “My dad… would come and play tell you how the experience really works,” Black says. “I me in chess when he was over partying on my side of have a hope for change.” town,” Black says. “I kind of really appreciated what the “Let’s think about it” game of chess did for me.” Mimi Kato, artist-in-residence at SPACES Gallery, spent her summer researching plants and crafting thousands “Ultimately what you’re of reflective markers, preparing for two simultaneous, interrelated shows. The subject of her installation is likely doing is about you, unfamiliar to most: the runaway growth of the glossy buckthorn. whether you are aware The glossy buckthorn, or Rhamnus frangula, has been
identified by the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and of it or not.” Preserves as one of the 10 most invasive and difficult to
control non-native plant species. Minnesota and Illinois
have banned the plant, and the National Park Service has At the time, Cleveland Public Library and Cleveland included the glossy buckthorn as part of a “least wanted” Public Art (now LAND Studio) selected the installation as posting. Introduced from Eurasia as shrubbery for fences, part of their See Also program, which installs a temporary the glossy buckthorn grows rapidly, reaching heights of 20 work of art in the library’s Eastman Reading Garden each feet. This plant also develops vast root systems, tolerates a summer. Black crafted six chess tables, 2 by 3 square feet, and designed them to be played standing up. He added
1,000 chess pieces and used photographs of the six distinct chess pieces to label each table with a character trait: king—stability; queen—freedom; bishop—wisdom; knight—unique approach; rook—honesty; and pawn— risk-taking. Chess, as Black sees it, is a metaphor for life.
87 CASE STUDY > Artist Activists: Heightening Social Awareness
wide range of habitats, and produces copious flowers and fruits. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) website, “Once established, these species aggressively invade natural areas and form dense thickets, displacing native species.” Despite its raging proliferation and banning in two states, the glossy buckthorn is still available in Ohio for ornamental use in landscaping.
Kato’s installations explore the challenges the glossy
buckthorn presents—costs of time, energy, and limited
funds—as well as the difficulty in disposing of the waste Her exhibit at the SPACES Gallery in the Ohio City generated from control efforts. Teaming with Jennifer neighborhood of Cleveland, a facility that touts itself as Hillmer, the Cleveland Metroparks’ invasive plants “the resource and public forum for artists who explore coordinator, Kato came up with a plan to depict the time and experiment,” focused on the waste produced by the and energy costs dedicated to controlling the spread of control efforts. Kato expected more than 3,000 mature glossy buckthorn. She picked a day in which members of glossy buckthorn plants to be cut in one day of control the Metroparks’ Invasive Plant Management Team would be efforts, which translated into multiple dump trucks full cutting the stems of mature glossy buckthorn surrounding of debris. the marsh and pond outside the North Chagrin Nature Center in Willoughby Hills. For each individual mature Kato’s installations explore glossy buckthorn cut and treated with herbicide, Kato attached a reflective marker to a 7-foot-tall stake placed the challenges the glossy in the ground next to the severed stems. “I just want to know how much they can cut in a day,” Kato says. buckthorn presents— The stakes were connected by a string, from which Kato hung more reflectors to represent the many smaller costs of time, energy, offshoots of the plant that will require even more time spent in control efforts. From August to October, North- and limited funds—as east Ohioans could experience Kato’s work by visiting the North Chagrin Nature Center after nightfall and shining well as the difficulty a flashlight on the reflective markers, thereby revealing the tremendous efforts involved in controlling one plant in disposing of the species in one area on one day. “I like the idea that they have to shine a light and the light comes back to them,” waste generated from Kato says.
control efforts.
Despite the plant’s invasiveness, there is no clear solution for what to do with the waste. In the North Chagrin Reservation, park officials typically pile up the plant waste, Kato says. They cannot turn it into mulch because of the seeds. Struck by this image, Kato called an official at the ODNR, who told her to burn the plant waste. “That’s not really ideal,” she says. “That’s going to pollute the air.” Alternatively, the ODNR recommended putting
88 the plant waste in bags and putting the bags in a landfill. “Since buckthorn is already so widespread, it’s already everywhere, they weren’t taking an urgent view,” she states. She tried calling other states to learn about their solutions. A natural resources official in Minnesota, which has banned the glossy buckthorn from being purchased or transported into the state, suggested she pile up the waste as a shelter for animals. “But with dump trucks full of cut stems, that would be tons of shelters,” she points out. In her outreach to a number of states, “I never got an answer. No answer, no solution. That was pretty interesting to me.”
Kato’s installation at SPACES Gallery demonstrated how Mimi Kato x Cleveland Metroparks “Retro-reflections on Sculpting Nature” site #1, view from the cut stems could be used to make animal shelters, Nature Center viewing deck at North Chagrin Reservation / Photo courtesy of Mimi Kato birdhouses, and walking sticks. She also bagged some of the waste to show how much of the material would be going into landfills. A fine line buckthorn, a hybrid version ex- perts claim is non-invasive, was also part of the exhibit to provoke inquiry. “How do we decide what to do, what to the South” for its encroachment on some 7 million acres, plant, and what to hybridize?” Kato asks. “I’m not against the impact on the environment. Kato recognized kudzu from invasive plants. They’re just plants. They still produce oxygen. her native Japan. She admits that her first reaction was They do their thing as plants. I just want to start a conver- somewhat nationalistic. “I thought: ‘Yay! Go, Japan!’ Plants sation about how we make our landscapes.” She believes that I knew were trying to take over.” She initially viewed most people simply buy plants because they are beautiful or the expanse of kudzu as a beautiful reminder of home, easy to grow. Another way to think of the invasive plants, but then she realized how pervasive the plant was in she says, is that they are simply opportunistic—they exploit Alabama. “It’s horrible in Japan, too, but not as bad.” She their advantages to make more of themselves. “I want to became intrigued by the fact she was seeing so many start the conversation about what do we grow.” plants from her native land. She learned about the These shows represent a new art form for Kato, who challenges of garlic mustard and burning bush. “Suddenly, says her previous work had mostly been photography I got really interested in why we are doing this, so much projects she had worked on alone in her studio. She money and energy being expended.” The plants became has long been inspired by landscapes, “how we make our metaphors for attractive quick fixes that end up being surroundings,” but has never tried to “do something in the costly in the long run. real world” until now. She’s excited by the potential for Kato says she is not trying to prevent people from buying community engagement around this environmental issue. plants they like, but she wants them to think about what “It’s my show,” she says, “but also everybody’s show.” they are doing and the potential consequences of their Kato was first exposed to the challenge of non-native choices. “I’m not trying to force change; I just want people species a few years ago when she lived in Alabama. to think. Not knowing and participating is a scary thing,” There she saw kudzu’s, also known as the “vine that ate she says. “I didn’t think about it before. Tiny plants grow into something bigger. Let’s think about it.”
Indeed, the “Let’s think about it” mantra underpins the
artistic goals shared by Kato, Black, and the countless
other artist activists using their talents to uncover societal
issues that otherwise might go unchallenged.
89 case study CAN Journal: Pressing for Change
Printmaker Liz Maugans saw a need: many of Cleveland’s artists and arts and culture organizations were going unnoticed and lacked an effective platform for getting the word out about their work. Maugans knew that together their voices would be much more powerful and so the Collective Arts Network (CAN) Journal was born.
Cover of CAN Journal, design by Joanne Dickey, Cover art “Buried It Off Of Ira” oil on panel by Steve Ehret / Photo by Michael Gill
90 CASE STUDY > CAN Journal: Pressing for Change
The art of printmaking is defined as the transfer of ink from a plate, block, or screen to a flat surface to create a single fine art print.
Yet this general description is deceptively simple. To produce just one print, a printmaker must carry out a number of steps and utilize a wide range of techniques. In the printmaking process known as intaglio, for example, a printmaker will first use a tool to create an image on a metal plate that is covered with an acid resistant material. “It became clear to the smallest of the small organizations The plate is then submerged in an acid bath to etch the that their needs were materially different from others image onto the metal. Next, ink is applied to the plate who put themselves in the small category, which included and wiped off so it only remains in the etched lines. Finally, organizations with budget sizes up to $500,000,” says a piece of paper is put on the plate and pushed with Megan Van Voorhis, chief operating officer of CPAC, who uniform force onto the plate using a printing press. This led the discussion among the small organization group. transfers the image from the plate to the paper. “They recognized a need facing the smallest organizations Just as every component of this process—whether large and were catalyzed to do something to address it.” or small—is required to make the final product, a strong Upon leaving this event, Maugans wanted to do something arts and culture sector is built on the recognition and that would lead to greater awareness and appreciation for understanding that every individual artist and arts and the important work the arts and culture sector does to culture organization, even small ones, are essential make our city and region stronger, while ensuring that even components of the broader cultural ecosystem. the smallest organizations, like Zygote Press, were involved. The Spark Later that year, Maugans invited a group of local artists and A 2009 Arts and Culture Roundtable hosted by the leaders of arts and culture organizations to discuss the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) challenges they faced and how they could work together brought together members of the arts and culture sector to overcome them. This meeting would become the basis during the height of the Great Recession to catalyze for SALT (Sustainable Arts Leaders Talk)—a monthly discussions on how the sector could develop strategies convening of arts and culture leaders from organizations to weather the economic downturn. To facilitate discussion, like BAYarts, City Artists at Work, Cleveland Arts Prize, those in attendance were asked to form four, impromptu CPAC, the Council of Smaller Enterprises’ Arts Network, breakout groups representing artists and small organi- Orange Art Center and RED DOT Project. Although their zations, medium organizations, and large organizations. missions were very different, one mutual dilemma soon As the groups coalesced, participants like Liz Maugans, emerged: exposure. co-founder and executive director of Zygote Press on The Collective Arts Network (CAN) Journal was thus created Cleveland’s East Side, recognized that even within with the goal of drawing attention to, and elevating the the smallest category, the range of challenges facing voices of, artists and organizations who they believed organizations were varied. lacked an effective platform for promoting their work.
Filling a Need
This lack of publicity pointed to a clear need for a
publication that would spotlight members of the arts and
culture sector, especially those that were not well known.
“All of these galleries need people to know what they
are doing, and they need to be able to catalyze beyond
to some sort of critical mass,” says CAN Journal editor
91 Four> artist-printmakers, Joe Sroka, Liz Maugans, Bellamy Printz, Michael Gill. “If you want [your exhibit] to be more than and Kelly Novak, joined forces in 1995 after recognizing the your friends getting together, if you want to be engaged in need for a working fine-art printmaking facility in Cleveland. the arts economy, if you want to show people works of art Through this synergy and collective effort Zygote Press not just because they are your friends, then you need public was born. Zygote Press is a non-profit, cooperative, awareness. You need a way to reach people.” The CAN fine art printmaking workshop that offers studio space, Journal set out on a mission to provide the publicity that printmaking equipment, and technical assistance to local was so important, yet often lacking. artists. The organization aims to help artists create fine art prints in a collaborative atmosphere promoting Prior to the creation of CAN Journal, coverage of the local the exchange of ideas, increasing awareness about visual arts scene, and the visual arts sector in particular, the printmaking process, providing affordable studio often focused on the larger players in town, exploring space and exhibition opportunities, and stimulating exhibits and events happening at the Cleveland Museum communications between artist-printmakers and the of Art, the Cleveland Institute of Art, and the Museum of broader community. Zygote Press also offers several Contemporary Art (MOCA) Cleveland. More recently, different programs in printmaking for individuals of challenges in the newspaper and periodical industries have all levels, from novice to professional artists, including shrunk coverage of arts and culture across the board, but classes that teach participants to use the tools of the especially for exhibits and activities that fall outside the trade so they can leave the workshop with a tangible mainstream. print creation. Comments from focus groups also echoed these concerns, To help further the connection between printmaking voicing regret about the lack of quality local coverage of and the wider community, several initiatives have been the arts even as artists and institutions in the region are undertaken: Press on Wheels, an opportunity that brings recognized by outlets like The New York Times. Others note printmaking to students by offering them onsite visits the lack of art critics and arts segments in local print media of the facility; The Printmaking Expedition, a travelling and broadcast media respectively. Even as the Cleveland expedition of the Zygote Press archives; and the Works Museum of Art engaged in its largest expansion in a in Progress program, which offers an open forum where century there was little more than a “blurb” on the 11 practicing artists can present and discuss their work. The o’clock news. Referring to this perceived lack of quality of press also maintains an artist exchange, called the Dresden local media coverage, one focus group participant asked Program, which brings German artists to Cleveland and “why do we limit ourselves to something that is average?” sends Cleveland-based artists to Germany. Through this The CAN Journal set out to fill this media gap by going well collaboration, Zygote Press creates connections between beyond “average”. the global printmaking community and the community Working Together here in Northeast Ohio. Networking and collaboration have been the driving forces Website: http://www.zygotepress.com/ behind the CAN Journal, Gill says. The first issue was actually conceived as the only issue—a onetime overview of the local arts scene. Individual artists and groups would pay $100 to be listed as a CAN member at the back of the publication. Membership fees would provide the match for a $2,400 grant from the Ohio Arts Council.
Jen Craun (pictured) in Zygote Press shop; Photo courtesy of Michael Loderstedt 92 CASE STUDY > CAN Journal: Pressing for Change
coming up in the next three months. Members pay $125 for a half-page article and $250 for a full-page write-up. Traditional advertising space is also available, costing members $500 and non-members up to $1,000 for a full-page display. “It’s a good deal,” Gill says. “We can’t Liz Maugans says she anticipated getting 16 members to really price it much higher. We want it to be affordable sign on to the deal; the first issue, published in January for these small organizations. Being inclusive like that is 2012, drew support from 28 members. All members important to us.” agreed to contribute content. “We each picked a member The CAN Journal also received support from local organization out of a hat” to interview, Maugans says. The businessman and longtime arts patron, Wally Lanci. He group paid $6,000 to have the Plain Dealer print 10,000 serves as corporate counsel for his family’s Consolidated copies of the first issue as a newsprint tabloid. As a way Graphics Group printing business and agreed to print to generate excitement and distribute copies, the CAN the CAN Journal’s first year of issues, in full color and Journal staff threw a launch party, inviting members to on nicer-than-newsprint paper, for free. “Help from mingle and take copies of the publication to share within their Consolidated Graphics has been pivotal,” Maugans says. own organizations. Free copies were also made available “We talked to all sorts who print magazines. The cheapest at branches of the Cuyahoga County Public Library and we could do was tabloid newsprint… Wally Lanci has Heinen’s stores. been amazing in his philanthropy. He walks in and says, ‘I Though the first issue was out, it did not happen effortlessly. will pay for the first year.’ That freed us to focus on getting “The problem with the first issue is that structurally we off the ground and in the form we wanted.” could provide an overview of the organizations, but we Lanci says he was drawn to the CAN Journal’s focus on couldn’t do anything timely,” Gill says. Follow-up interviews galleries and smaller arts organizations, yet has been with all 28 original members found overwhelming support impressed by its ability to attract the interest of the for a quarterly publication that would allow local arts region’s larger arts institutions as well. “When you look organizations to publicize upcoming events. “It’s hard to at the membership and the variety they have, I think that get these disparate organizations to participate willingly speaks volumes for the need for something like this,” without money coming to them,” Gill says. “That makes Lanci says. “[Cleveland Museum of Art] doesn’t need to this noteworthy.” advertise in this, but they see the value.” He cites two In demonstrating the value proposition, Maugans and Gill features of the CAN Journal business plan as critical to its compare the cost of membership and member articles sustainability: membership and collaboration. Membership to the traditional way of promoting art exhibits through means there is “financial skin in the game,” which, in turn, postcards. Printing and mailing 1,000 postcards to a list enhances collaboration. “If there’s not enough skin in the of potential patrons may cost $500 or more. The CAN game for each nonprofit, then collaboration sometimes Journal, on the other hand, provides members a medium fades away.” for showcasing their events to an audience ten times In a mark of tradition for the young publication, launch bigger and wider in scope—at a cost significantly less parties continue to serve as the primary mechanisms for than $500. “We looked at this as a model of cost distributing the 10,000 copies of each edition. Each launch effectiveness,” Maugans says. party for a new edition of the journal is held at a different Sustaining Efforts member’s site. “That gets us around town and connects Since the first publication, membership has grown to us in the community,” Maugans says. 55 galleries and organizations and 14 individual artists.
Members submit their own articles, with galleries frequently providing a biography and perspective on an artist’s work. All the articles, which Gill edits for style and readability, are meant to preview and promote exhibits 93 CASE STUDY > CAN Journal: Pressing for Change
Although she and Gill are thrilled with the growth in membership, they would like to see more community support for the publication through advertising. So far, most of the advertising has come through member non-profit institutions, such as CPAC and the Cleveland Museum of Art, as well as local community development organizations that appreciate how the publication groups Printing in a Digital Era activities by neighborhood. Gill, a former editor at the Sun In an era when long established print publications are newspapers and Free Times and former arts editor for folding or switching to online content, why take the risk Scene magazine, would like to see more restaurants and of a printed journal? “Print helps crack the whip,” Gill says. other businesses advertise, the way that they do in more “It’s distinctive. It’s limited and therefore people take it traditional publications. “We need larger organizations seriously. It requires more planning and forethought to paying for more,” Gill says. “We need more banks, hotels, get in.” He points out the journal also offers space online, for-profit advertisers. These are the sorts of things we at canjournal.org, for events that don’t make it into the need for actual sustainability to happen.” printed version.
Other challenges that have arisen for the nascent journal Maugans believes the infrequency of the quarterly CAN include a perception among some non-member artists that Journal helps make it seem more special than a daily the CAN Journal represents a closed club of sorts. A focus newspaper or weekly magazine. “There’s something about group participant noted she viewed the CAN Journal as these [journals] that they can be archived. We need a network that strengthens connections within itself, but bibliographies and something as artists that’s sexy and that it has yet to reach those unfamiliar or outside of the that’s written up about us… something that we can put existing network. “It doesn’t reach the average person in a PR packet. I just did a program down in Collinwood. I that is going to pick up the newspaper… it’s preaching to could have [promoted] it online through my blog, but this the choir” observed other focus group participants. Part is something that people wouldn’t find online. It finds you of this issue arises from the fact the CAN Journal has, in instead of you trying to track it down.” large part, eschewed embracing digital and social media in promoting and supporting its primary print offering, aside Looking Forward from offerings available on their website. Overall, much of Entering its second year, the CAN Journal kept with tradition this criticism may be a direct result of CAN Journal’s and celebrated by holding a launch party. However, unlike relative youth, small size, and the fact that it was never in the past, the June 29, 2013, event was structured as designed to compete, or in this case supplant, mass media a fundraiser called “Y2CAN”. The CAN Journal also coverage of the arts—the true source of much of the experienced another milestone earlier in the month, criticism. The core of the CAN Journal’s brand in the fore- when it emerged from under the fiscal wing of Maugans’ seeable future is to remain the printed journal itself. Zygote Press. As of June 1st, the St. Clair Superior Development Corporation assumed the role of fiscal agent for the journal. “The journal will still be part of our mission at Zygote Press. We will always be a member. I will be active as one of the founders,” Maugans says. “But this was always an aim of our board.”
While Maugans’ Zygote Press may have stepped away from fiscal control of theCAN Journal, the experience has forever changed her relationship with the local arts and culture community. The CAN Journal has led to the creation of a database of artists, galleries and organizations and has resulted in a sharing of grant-writing
94 CASE STUDY > CAN Journal: Pressing for Change resources. “We really are tethered because of to this funding, Cuyahoga County (via Cuyahoga Arts & this experience,” Maugans says. “We all support each Culture grants) routinely provides more public funding other. There is strength in numbers, energy especially… in terms of real dollars to arts and culture than in all there’s cohesiveness in the fabric of this art landscape.” but two states—New York and Minnesota—uniquely positioning the region as a premier supporter of arts and
culture nationally. Focus group participants echoed this,
Focus group participants noting how essential it is that public funding for the arts
remain strong so that the region can not only draw artists
in from elsewhere, but also its role in retaining existing [noted] how essential it artists and recent graduates of local colleges.
is that public funding for Maugans agrees public sector support has been critical. “I just think we’re in a renaissance here as far as arts go,” the arts remain strong so she says. “I can feel it.” Her next effort will be to use the CAN Journal as a platform for arts advocacy. She plans to that the region can not invite key decision-makers—politicians, corporations, educators and community development leaders— only draw artists in from to events that showcase research on the connection between creative workers and economic growth as elsewhere, but also its role well as artists who are actively re-envisioning Cleveland neighborhoods. “We need these groups to be our in retaining existing artists advocates. We’re taxpayers too. We care very deeply about our everyday practice. We need help to be able and recent graduates of to vocalize our connection within the community.” local colleges.
Pressing for Change As the CAN Journal enters its third year in print, the organization has begun to shift toward a greater advocacy role for arts and culture as a community development tool. “Broad acceptance of arts organizations and galleries can bring new energy to neighborhoods and catalyze rebirth,” Gill says. As examples, he points to the 78th Street Studios in the Gordon Square Arts District, the Waterloo Arts District in Collinwood, and the Quadrangle arts district in the St. Clair Superior neighborhood as helping to reinvigorate those communities culturally and economically by infusing art and retail spaces. Additionally, public support in the form of a cigarette excise tax, which Cuyahoga County voters approved in 2006, has been central to these creative and catalytic developments, he says. Thanks
95 case study Dan Cuffaro: Remaking the Regional Economy
Innovative yet traditional, practical yet alluring, artistic yet marketable, reclaimed from the past yet positioned for the future. These qualities may seem like a tall order for a simple desk, but industrial designer-educator-entrepreneur Dan Cuffaro believes his Hive workstation encompasses all of these characteristics. His work demonstrates how inspired product design can drive business strategy and how building a design-based economy can play an important role in reinventing our region.
HIVE Workstation / Photo by Robert Muller
96 CASE STUDY > Dan Cuffaro: Remaking the Regional Economy
Dan Cuffaro, who heads the Industrial Design Department at the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA), views the world around him conceptually as pieces that fit together into a functioning and artful whole. His designer’s eye is trained to see all sides of a product and formulate ways to make it not only more functional, but also more visually appealing to its user. Cuffaro’s skill manifests while figuring out a way to update a piece of outdated furniture, reusing components of deteriorated housing stock, or remaking Cleveland’s regional economy. Cuffaro left Northeast Ohio after graduating from CIA in 1991 and spent his early career in Boston, where he For the past few years, Cuffaro has been busy working on served as design director at Altitude Inc., an award-winning all three of these challenges simultaneously through the product development firm. Boston, with its wealth of creation of the “Hive” workstation, a design that utilizes prestigious design schools, high-profile design firms and its reclaimed materials from abandoned homes in Cuyahoga attractive urban environment, is a powerful draw for young County and unites them through modern design principles. designers. The kind of “brain drain” Cuffaro’s departure He believes these products, designed and built in Northeast represented often leads local policy makers to wring their Ohio, teach an important lesson about leveraging capacity hands in despair. However, Cuffaro believes it is good for and identifying needs, in addition to pairing the two his students to leave the area after graduation—at least, through practical yet innovative design. as he did, temporarily. Leaving the area exposes students As Cuffaro asserts, “The more Northeast Ohio connects to different ideas and practices, while allowing companies its capacity dots, the better off it will be,” because new across the country to experience the quality of talent products, such as his own, emerge where needs, resources, coming out of Northeast Ohio. Leaving the area also and innovation intersect. Identifying these intersections is reveals to young professionals the many positive attributes essential since new products drive growth—both for of Northeast Ohio and gives them a feeling they can come individual businesses and for the economy overall. back to make a difference. Cuffaro’s decision to leave a dream job in Boston and return to Northeast Ohio in Building on a Legacy 2003 was partly driven by a desire to be closer to family— Think of Cuffaro as the champion of design-driven but he also saw the potential to be a champion for change. development in Northeast Ohio, building on a platform established decades earlier by the region’s industrial legacy Edward W. “Ned” Hill, Dean of Cleveland State University’s and the influential presence of “American Da Vinci” Viktor Levin College of Urban Affairs, describes Cuffaro’s return Schreckengost. Cuffaro even studied under Schreckengost, to Northeast Ohio as a “whirlwind.” “He instantly made whose 70-year association with CIA led to the development connections all over the place, reconnecting the design of the Industrial Design Department that Cuffaro now directs. program at CIA to the economy,” says Hill, who has been partnering with Cuffaro for years to create and brand a David Deming, who served as president of CIA before “District of Design” in downtown Cleveland. “It was terrific.” retiring in 2010, considers Cuffaro his “best hire” in twelve years at the helm. “Dan is a disciple of Viktor Schreckengost Hill considers Cuffaro to be “walking in the footsteps” of and has embraced Viktor’s legacy. He has been a spokesperson Schreckengost. “Dan is a catalytic connecting presence for helping Cleveland identify not just what its potential is in Northeast Ohio’s industrial design community. He but what it already is in terms of design.” connects art to products through design. He connects students to employers. He is a constant connection between the worlds of art and of commerce. Dan has a vision of using design as a source of competitive advantage and a vehicle for strengthening Northeast Ohio’s industrial base.”
97 also tend to make decisions about where to locate their business based on price factors, such as square footage, labor, and utility costs. Cuffaro says it’s hard to get companies to break out of the cost-focused way of thinking about products and see how “the art, the beauty, the function, and the innovation” adds value. This often relegates design to “second-class status” behind cost and practicality, an obstacle Cuffaro points to as a key “problem with design in Cleveland.”
From the start, [Cuffaro]
HIVE can be arranged in many configurations based on individual saw a need for more work style and team environment / Photo by Robert Muller
collaboration, greater
flexibility, and dynamic
As Cuffaro started making such connections, two
observations stood out: Changes in technology and thinking—both among processes were continuing to erode the region’s traditional
industrial might, and the traditional drafting tables his his students and among students were using had become obsolete. From the start,
he saw a need for more collaboration, greater flexibility, and regional stakeholders. dynamic thinking—both among his students and among
regional stakeholders.
“It was really appealing to come back to Cleveland from To combat this paradigm, Cuffaro uses design-driven product Boston because it felt like you could be engaged and your development, what he describes as “a different way of engagement would make a difference,” said Cuffaro. “I see thinking about products than how accountants or engineers students look at it the same way. What they would really think about them. It’s a way of thinking about what products like is to be a part of something bigger, be part of shaping should be like, about the way people interface, how they the culture . . . In Cleveland, because the region is seen as touch it, how they feel it. Organizations need to think being so far down, there is a perception that there is something about product design as a business strategy.” Pointing to his to fix and something for one to do and an avenue to do perception of a lack of enthusiasm towards design, Cuffaro it.” One way Cuffaro would begin to make a difference is notes that “Industrial design needs to be celebrated more. It by shifting the conversation around product development needs to be seen as sexier.” Cuffaro envisioned a fundamental towards design. shift in this perception that would begin with the creation of a new kind of workstation called the Hive. Design-Focused Development Cuffaro describes Cleveland’s brand of industrial design as pragmatic, solution-based, and business-minded. While all are admirable qualities, the region’s emphasis on practical problem solving tends to include factors other than design. For example, accountants may say a product embodies the right cost compromise, or an engineer may say a product adequately meets structural specifications. Companies
98 >Still in its infancy, think[box], a new endeavor
spearheaded by Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), is an open resource invention center where design, development, and product commercialization collide. This high-technology design laboratory, located on CWRU’s campus, invites visitors to merge science and technology with art and design in new and creative ways. Since Reclaiming History CWRU is only a few blocks away from the Cleveland In 2009, the Cleveland Foundation approached Dan Cuffaro Institute of Art, it was logical for science and design and CIA in order to get him and his students involved in to come together here. Students, faculty, staff, and brainstorming potential products that used deconstructed community members design and create prototypes that materials. The impetus for this work was a study the could one day lead to commercially produced products. Foundation commissioned investigating whether a market Not only does this process allows them to create rapid- for recycled wood salvaged from abandoned homes could prototype products, but also allows for synergies amongst be developed in Cleveland. people and institutions; what CWRU terms “cross-discipline and cross-institution collaboration.” “What we found was you really needed to build more think[box] currently resides in a temporary space that products and demand for these kinds of efforts to be offers access to equipment like circuit board printers, able to have some value,” says Lillian Kuri, the Cleveland computer-controlled table routers that can cut sheets of Foundation’s program director for architecture, urban wood or plastic, and a 3D printer that can create plastic design, and sustainable development. “If there was more pieces with moving parts. With fundraising in progress, demand from people wanting products using these kinds the university envisions moving the venture into a state- of deconstructed products that would help bring down the of-the-art open source facility to be housed in a new $25 cost of deconstruction to be more in line with demolition.” million, seven-story, 50,000 square foot complex. The Cuffaro’s mind instantly turned to the designs for a modern immense size of the future think[box] facility would make workstation he had begun mulling years earlier. The design, it the largest campus-based invention center in the world. called the Hive, has a hexagonal design that is modular Website: http://engineering.case.edu/thinkbox/ yet customizable. The 7-foot-long work surface is at an “interaction height,” meaning the desk can be comfortably used whether sitting or standing, while its wheels allow for easy reconfiguration or storage. “The desk is a structure that enables collaboration and innovative thinking,” Cuffaro says. “There are times in the creative process when it is important to interact and collaborate and then there are times when you need to focus…We’re trying to create workspace that is more like we work. More collaboration, more flexibility.”
In 2012, Cuffaro launched a business venture, Abeo Design, to develop his Hive workstation and other commercial furniture products “made in a sustainable manner.” The company website describes the venture as “born from the convergence of social and practical need.” To help build connections, the Cleveland Foundation soon introduced Cuffaro to the founders of A Piece of Cleveland (APOC), think[box] users have access to state-of-the-art equipment, like who in their self-described efforts to be “superheroes” the 3-D printer shown here / Photo by Russell Lee
99 >Deconstruction, an alternative to the more common attempted to preserve some value of Cleveland’s demolition, creates an opportunity to reduce waste by abandoned homes by championing deconstruction. recycling 40% of a building’s materials while preserving The matchmaking effort was successful. Cuffaro works with its history. That is the aim of Chris Kious, owner of APOC to supply materials for the desks while production A Piece of Cleveland (APOC), a company that specializes is contracted to Benchmark, a Seville, Ohio, fabricator that in deconstructing houses in Northeast Ohio to turn them produces the workstations to his specifications. In the end, into everyday household items. APOC was launched in about 60 percent of the materials used to produce each 2008 as a response to the foreclosure crisis that left over Hive have been locally reclaimed through deconstruction— 27,000 vacant houses and properties in Cuyahoga County, a process Kuri describes as “taking lemons and making 12,000 of which were in the City of Cleveland. APOC’s lemonade.” goal was to “upcycle” the materials from these homes that would have been destined for the landfill. Demolishing a house in Since its founding, APOC has deconstructed over 63
homes and 5 commercial properties, reusing the materials Cuyahoga County typically to make a wide variety of products. Salvaged beams,
joists, floorboards, and more are recycled and crafted into
chairs, tables, countertops, benches, cutting boards, and costs about $8,000 and
a litany of other products. Restaurants like Pura Vida,
The Wine Spot, Mitchell’s, and Eddie Cerino’s, have used generates nothing but
APOC products, as well as Key Bank and the Cleveland
Sight Center. To acknowledge the original source of these waste. Deconstructing
materials, each APOC product comes with a “rebirth”
certificate, providing customers with the address and a house, however, costs
construction date of the source building. about $12,000 but salvages continued on page 101 building materials that
have value and can be
reused.
Cuffaro puts it in more quantifiable terms: His Hives converted roughly $24,000 in waste into about $130,000 in value in just one order. That kind of payoff holds tremendous promise in Cuyahoga County, where an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 structures are candidates for demolition. Demolishing a house in Cuyahoga County typically costs about $8,000 and generates nothing but waste. Deconstructing a house, however, costs about $12,000 but salvages building materials that have value and can be reused.
100 Although many companies have bought into the APOC brand, deconstruction as an industry has yet to take off in Cleveland. This lag in its popularity can largely be attributed to cost differential: deconstruction costs $12,000 while demolition only costs $8,000. Nonetheless, From Design to Delivery Kious argues that deconstruction can do more for the Cuffaro hopes the striking honeycomb structure of his economy and the environment than demolishment because Hive workstation will also demonstrate the power of it creates jobs and stops materials from entering the landfill. design to drive purchasing. “The desk is a great example The ultimate goal is to create a whole new industry in for showing students how to go about the process of Cleveland based on the idea that deconstruction, and the developing new products,” Cuffaro says. All inquiries so end products that stem from it, is not available in larger far have been ‘This is gorgeous; How do I get it?’ not, ‘This cities like New York, positioning Cleveland as a potential meets my needs.’ This meets their needs and it’s beautiful leader in urban revitalization that could benefit other and inspiring. I want students to see that process.” metropolises, like Detroit. To aid APOC in this effort, above and beyond its initial start-up funding from the Within the first year of business, Cuffaro’s workstation has Cleveland Foundation, the Cleveland Institute of Art has generated about $500,000 in sales and has inspired him to contracted APOC for the source material for their new begin development on four more products. He has fielded HIVE desks. The hopes are that this effort will help the inquiries from Georgia, Iowa, California and Ontario, Canada— company scale-up to meet the needs of larger clients, despite no actual marketing of his product. According to making deconstruction a viable business model for Cuffaro, CIA committed to an initial order of 32 Hive the region. workstations, enough to test-drive the process, debug the Website: http://apieceofcleveland.com/ product, and make necessary changes. At a cost of about $6,000, Cuffaro says the Hives were only slightly more than the cost of comparable mass-produced workstations. “CIA spent what it would have if it had bought workstations already available off the shelf.” Since that initial order, CIA has ordered an additional 98 desks, made of reclaimed wood from 10 houses destined for demolition. Also essential in the early stages was the support of the Cleveland Foundation, which provided grants to fund prototyping and other development efforts. The Foundation, working with the anchoring institutions of University Circle to better leverage their purchasing power, also agreed to provide CIA with money to cover the gap between the cost of buying off-the-shelf desks and the cost of creating Hive workstations.
Kuri says the Cleveland Foundation’s investment in the entire project has been less than $75,000, an amount she called a “no-brainer” for an activity that has built a model of collaboration. “It means so much more and has so much Eddie Cerino’s Casual Italian, Lakewood, OH / Photo Courtesy of A Piece of Cleveland potential, I think, for Cleveland.” She also believes the collaboration that took place around the workstation— both figuratively and literally—may serve as a model for future projects. “It potentially could be something that really
101 CASE STUDY > Dan Cuffaro: Remaking the Regional Economy
puts Cleveland on the map,” she says. “This is absolutely practical.” Yet collaborative efforts like these also symbolize Cleveland’s potential for resilience and innovation by fostering its design community.
Cuffaro believes design
can address another To meet this need for talent, Cuffaro and Hill’s District
of Design concept attempts to repopulate a downtown
problem the region faces corridor through design activities and affordable studios
for young artists. “The thought behind the District of
Design was, if we can just get enough of a foothold, through the repurposing a demonstrated concentration of creative thinkers,
Cleveland would be better positioned to attract of regional assets... the both innovators and the businesses who seek them,”
Cuffaro says. In creating the District of Design, he and Hill region has existing assets “essentially randomly assigned borders between CSU and
Playhouse Square [two anchor institutions in downtown in the form of a robust Cleveland].” Upon further investigation, they discovered
dozens of design-related activities were already taking and ingrained design place in the geographic target area, employing some
1,300 workers, along Euclid Avenue and adjoining streets culture, business clout, between East 14th and East 22nd Streets. “Within these
random boundaries, a foothold [of design] was already
and available retail space. there,” Cuffaro says. “Yet the neighborhood didn’t have an
identity of being a design neighborhood.”
Designing a New Regional Economy Creating a design designation for the neighborhood Cuffaro believes design can address another problem the is more than simple branding. “When you have a[n] region faces through the repurposing of regional assets: [economic] cluster, the sum is greater than the total of Northeast Ohio has a problem attracting young talent, its parts,” he says. “The interaction effect is supersized but the region has existing assets in the form of a compared to the resources. In Cleveland, it looks like robust and ingrained design culture, business clout, and we have all these parts, but they’re not working right to available retail space. These distinct strengths have yet supercharge the interaction. It’s not advancing our cause. I to be deployed in a way that builds excitement and don’t really know why. But, if we can get it to behave like momentum for our region, Cuffaro says. a cluster, then that builds momentum.” A design cluster, however, is not simply about supporting existing products;
it is also about creating an environment for innovation to
take place. A cluster enables “conversations that inspire
new ways of doing things,” Cuffaro says.
7 Mike Sharples, Patrick McAndrew, Martin Weller, Rebecca Ferguson, Elizabeth FitzGerald, Tony Hirst, Mark Gaved. “Exploring new forms of teaching, learning and assessment, to guide educators and policy makers.” Open University Innovation Report 2. Innovating Pedagogy 2013. http://www.open. ac.uk/personalpages/mike.sharples/Reports/Innovating_Pedagogy_report_2013.pdf and http://makezine.com/
102 Deming also praises Cuffaro’s work in developing the >Teaming up with the Cleveland Institute of Art, the District of Design, building on the region’s existing assets Waterloo Arts and Entertainment district developed and its “maker culture” legacy as a manufacturing hub. PRAXIS, an Integrated Fiber Workshop. Examples of Today, “maker culture’s” contemporary meaning refers fiber artists include dyers, felters, knitters, spinners, to a broader and growing movement that celebrates weavers, and rug hookers. The Praxis program debuted do-it-yourself tinkerers who use experimentation, at the 2013 Waterloo Arts Fest, and the permanent hands-on learning, and peer-to-peer interactions to co-op workshop is located across from the Slovenian create novel products that solve perceived problems Workmen’s Home in the Waterloo Studios. The workshop experienced in everyday life. 7 Deming believes Northeast serves the community and also provides gallery and Ohio can provide a fertile ground for such informal, studio space to artists and other community members creative exchanges. “If you can develop a place that seems who have an interest in fiber art. Beyond teaching artists to be a magnet for like-minded [innovative] people, they and community members how to use a loom, PRAXIS may work for different firms but get together over coffee also plans to assist attendees in weaving a community and talk. All sorts of new products and ideas come out of textile to be displayed at the next Arts Fest. that.” Such creative exchanges are critical in developing Website: http://artscollinwood.org/arts-fest-2013/ new products, which, in turn, should help create new jobs. arts-alive/ The challenge, Cuffaro says, is getting businesses—and the region overall—to be open to designs’ contributions.
Jessica Pinksy (pictured); Photo by Rob Muller
103 case study Cleveland CycleWerks: Starting Up
Scott Colosimo of Cleveland CycleWerks has a vision: design and manufacture custom-made motorcycles in Cleveland. However, Colosimo encountered a number of roadblocks that required him to rethink his business strategy and confront the realities of the globalized economy. In finding his way, Colosimo has received considerable criticism as well as accolades—all in pursuit of making his dreams into reality.
Scott Colosimo (pictured) / Photo by Billy Delfs
8 West, D. M. (2011). Technology and the innovation economy. Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings. http://www.brookings.edu/research/ papers/2011/10/19-technology-innovation-west 9 Berger, S. & Sharp, P. et al. (2013) A preview of the MIT production in the innovation economy report. MIT Taskforce on Innovation and Production. http://web.mit.edu/press/images/documents/pie-report.pdf
104 CASE STUDY > Cleveland CycleWerks: Starting Up
Today, economic competitiveness is predicated on a locality’s ability to not only create, but also apply knowledge. The manufacture of such knowledge occurs through investments in research and development, an entrepreneurial business culture, and public policies geared at bringing ideas to fruition.8 For formerly industrial cities, this proposition remains challenging—how does a place whose legacy is tied to a production-based economy adapt to a knowledge-based model? 9
In Cleveland, the story of Cleveland CycleWerks The favorable magazine review led to a surge of activity on illustrates the challenges a startup can face when Cleveland CycleWerks’ website, such that the site became transforming an idea to scale—progressing through overwhelmed and its server went offline. This is why prototyping a product and demonstrating its market Colosimo is now holed up in his office, hunched over his viability—while developing a local manufacturing laptop, and operating on only a couple hours of sleep. infrastructure for it. In a small, startup business, it is not enough to be the Becoming a Niche Manufacturer visionary; you have to be a jack-of-all-trades—website Scott Colosimo sits glued to a laptop in his office. The management included. The 150,000 hits were both exciting room’s tight quarters, lack of windows, and floor-to-ceiling and overwhelming for a 4-year-old company that expects industrial yellow brick are more suggestive of a closet to sell only 12,000 to 14,000 motorcycles in 2013. To than a corporate office. Yet, the head-to-toe black leather put those numbers in perspective, Honda reported suit hanging in the corner and the Brembo brake caliper worldwide motorcycle sales of 12.6 million in 2012. sitting on his desk make clear that Colosimo, 32, is serious “We’re still a very niche manufacturer,” Colosimo says. about his plan to build small-engine motorcycles that The Misfit is one of three models Colosimo sells in the are both fun to ride and easy on the wallet—and to United States; he also produces a few other models manufacture them in Cleveland. specifically designed for markets outside of the country. Colosimo’s preoccupation with the laptop demonstrates CycleWerks bikes come with stylish, classic lines and 125 or the zoom and crash challenges of building a business: 250 cc engines. (By comparison, the engine displacement for Cleveland CycleWerks had been unexpectedly featured Harley-Davidson motorcycles may be 1500 cc or more.) on Cycle World’s website, the nation’s largest motorcycle Colosimo, who began customizing cars and motorcycles magazine, in a late June 2013 review of ten bikes with as a teenager in his parents’ garage in Parma, was working as “soul & character.” Colosimo’s Misfit garnered high marks a product designer in Europe when he got to experience the in Cycle World’s review and was deemed very affordable unexpected fun of riding a small-engine bike. He cites a due to its standard $3,195 price tag. The bike’s affordability biking adage: “It’s fun to ride a slow bike fast.” CycleWerks’ and accessibility reflect what Colosimo calls the “Cleveland demographic niche in the United States includes way,” encapsulating the values that encouraged him to first-time bikers, particularly women, and serious riders return to Northeast Ohio. who want a “step-down” bike for everyday use. “The average rider can’t get to one-tenth of the level” larger bikes are meant to be ridden, Colosimo says. For local commutes to and from work in traffic, a small-engine bike is more practical, easier to handle, easier on the environment, and easier on the wallet (Colosimo’s bikes get almost 100 miles per gallon). Colosimo says “Every bike is created for a purpose.”
105 In> 1972, two recent graduates from the Cleveland Institute Yet utility need not sacrifice panache. Colosimo says his of Art, John Nottingham and John Spirk, founded their motorcycles have been heavily influenced by classic styles. own industrial design firm in Cleveland’s University Circle “Retro-futuristic” is what some reviewers have dubbed neighborhood. Forty-one years later, the company now them. “From 50 feet away, our bike looks like an old bike,” has around/close to 1,000 U.S. and international patents, Colosimo says. “Then when you get up on it, you see that including the Spin Brush toothbrush, Swiffer Sweeper it’s not an old bike. It’s a truly modern bike.” SuperVac, and the Sherwin Williams Twist-n-Pour paint can. These successes are attributable to the firm’s ability Retro-futuristic is a term “many designers love to use,” to work effectively with client companies by reviewing Colosimo says. But “others say it’s a cop-out: You’re copying their off-the-shelf products, guiding design improvements, old stuff. As a business person, it’s a perfect place for us and, finally, ensuring that the redesigned products can be to live. It’s helping us build our brand.” By building bikes sold at a reasonable price. that look and feel “classic” to riders, Colosimo believes it is making the sales pitch is less difficult, a crucial factor for a Nottingham Spirk transforms products through their startup company like his. signature designs, but has also successfully engaged with its clients in new product development and product Local Draws innovation. A classic example is their work with Zippo Colosimo launched Cleveland CycleWerks in 2009, but in Manufacturing Co., the lighter manufacturer. As many many ways he worked toward this moment since childhood. states passed tougher tobacco laws and lighters were He can remember the day when his grandfather Richard banned on airlines, Zippo was finding that lighters were Colosimo, a successful Northeast Ohio artist and becoming harder to sell. Like all companies, Zippo real- businessman, suggested they stop by the Cleveland ized they had to evolve, so they invited Nottingham Spirk Institute of Art (CIA). That afternoon, they walked past to take a look at their facilities and help them brainstorm figure drawings and medical sketches; then, down in the ideas for new products. Through this exercise, Nottingham basement, he got a glimpse of his future: There were “all Spirk helped create a diverse product line that now these drawings of future cars—George Jetson stuff. The includes camping gear, watches, and writing supplies, all quality of the work, I couldn’t believe it. It was a defining of which successfully supplemented Zippo’s core product. moment. It was like seeing a masterpiece. From that moment, that’s what I wanted to do.” continued on page 107 “It put two things I really loved together,” Colosimo says. “Art—and cars and bikes… I didn’t realize that people actually had a career doing that.” Colosimo knew he loved art and product design at an early age, but it took years before he learned he loved Cleveland. “I hated this place when I was a kid. Too small town. Too blue-collar.”
After graduating from CIA in 2004 with a degree in industrial design, Colosimo left Northeast Ohio. Design jobs took him to various parts of the nation and world. Yet no matter where he went, they all seemed lacking when compared to his hometown of Cleveland. “I’ve lived in so many places. Cleveland has a unique quality.” That “unique
106 Helping other companies vertically integrate is nothing new for Nottingham Spirk, which has its own “vertical innovation process.” The company’s process enables Nottingham to create the design, prototyping, and supply chain management in-house. Consequently, Nottingham Spirk creates tangible products that are tested by the quality” is what led him to include “Cleveland” in the name company’s own focus groups. This process speeds up the of his business. “For me, there was no other name for the design work, and those savings are passed on to the cli- company. It conveyed something to me. If it meant something ent and, ultimately, the consumers. When the company to me, then I assumed it would mean something to others.” was looking for a new facility in the early 2000s they For Colosimo, Cleveland and its “maker culture” convey wanted to remain in University Circle, so in 2005 they character and competence. spent $16 million rehabbing the historic First Church of Christ Scientist. Built in 1931 and modeled on the Beyond simply capturing the image of the city in his Pantheon in Rome, the building now houses their company’s name, he wanted to capture the strengths of its offices, industrial design studio, and prototype people. When he lived in other cities, “it was frustrating that manufacturing center. no one does anything for themselves,” he says. In Cleveland, “we were able to hire good people—people who can Website: http://www.nottinghamspirk.com/ actually do things. They can work with computers and their hands.”
Setting up business in Cleveland came with another perk: “One thing that cannot be overstated is that you can live and operate a business in Cleveland for relatively little [money],” Colosimo says. That relatively slow “burn rate” was important when he found his embrace of Cleveland wasn’t immediately returned.
Overcoming Roadblocks Manufacturing motorcycles locally has proven much more challenging than Colosimo initially anticipated. For starters, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression This stainless steel shell not only ties in with the Zippo product line, but it’s built was still weighing heavily on the regional—and national— to suppress the signal sent from a Radio Frequency ID chip, protecting against economy. In addition to economic conditions, Colosimo credit card theft / Photo courtesy of Nottingham Spirk and Zippo faced challenges in building a supply chain for his bikes in Cleveland. Local manufacturers were unwilling to take a chance on a young startup company wanting to buy parts in small batches. Many of the vendors were also deterred by the potential liability of supplying parts for motorcycles. Manufacturers and potential investors alike told him his venture was too risky.
Unwilling to give up on his vision, Colosimo did what countless other startups do to survive: He looked overseas. “In China, I can get anything built. I can go in with a hand drawing and there will be five or six factories wanting to do it,” he says. “The support system in China was much better.” For example, the Chinese government offered a rebate
107 CASE STUDY > Cleveland CycleWerks: Starting Up
on every part they produced for him. Not surprisingly, manufacturers came to him, hoping to earn his business. Along with being the biggest market for motorcycles, such aggressive pursuit of manufacturing opportunities has helped China become the world’s leading motorcycle producer. According to Cycle World magazine, more than half of all motorcycles are manufactured in China—and have been for years. Bringing Business Home The decision to go overseas has not been without controversy. So far, the number of Clevelanders working at Cleveland Colosimo has drawn criticism from those who advocate CycleWerks is admittedly small—about eight full-time for “Made in the U.S.A.” products and for stronger employees out of 250 total workers. The Cleveland environmental and industrial regulations in China. The lack workers are largely operational and design staff. of regulations makes the cost of doing business in China much cheaper in terms of dollars and cents. However, the Nevertheless, Colosimo is committed to bringing environmental and human costs are much greater— production of his motorcycles to Cleveland. He believes negative consequences such as unchecked pollution, poor Cleveland’s heritage of designing and manufacturing labor conditions, worker abuses, and subpar product qual- products adds value, both in terms of process and ity are commonly cited critiques of China. perception. This conviction led him to take up residence in a 65,000-square-foot, century-old manufacturing building Colosimo understands the criticisms but points out just north of Cleveland’s Gordon Square Arts District. “manufacturing is a global affair… whether cars or clothing, Over the years, the building has been home to rubber it’s a coming together of pieces and parts from all over production, steelmaking, and meat-processing activities. the world and all over the country.” Research also shows Colosimo values the building’s history, character and that in a globalized economy, industry development often location, which, despite the artsier focus of late, continues follows such a course, with greater outsourcing taking to be home to manufacturing activity. Within a few blocks place in the early stages of development.10 For proprietors of his company, there are businesses engaged in casting, of startups, such tradeoffs are often viewed as necessary finishing, welding, coating, and hard chrome plating. As in finding a balance between the founder’s vision and the Colosimo succinctly puts it, “They cut steel next door.” realities of business. By the time he’s finished with renovations, Colosimo will Colosimo maintains, “From the beginning, I wanted to do have invested $5.5 million in the facility. Cleveland City everything in the United States. But it’s very, very difficult Councilman Matt Zone helped him qualify for partial to work in the U.S. Regulation, cost, and mindset gets in tax abatement for the property, which had sat vacant the way of producing things here, when you’re trying to for about 18 months. The building is more space than do things like I envisioned for Cleveland CycleWerks.” Colosimo envisions for his Cleveland operations, so he is hoping to attract other entrepreneurs and innovators into a shared environment of production. “We’re trying to rent out space to artists and businesses doing interesting things.” He believes the investment in and energy around Gordon Square should help attract workers, renters and customers.
10 Dickens, P. (2003). Global shift: Reshaping the global economic map in the 21st century. Sage Publications
108 >According to the nonprofit advocacy group Bike “Our decision to be here was that it was an up-and-coming neighborhood,” Colosimo says. “We’re a destination retail Cleveland, commuting to work by bicycle has establishment.” His shop not only sells CycleWerks bikes increased 280% from 2000 to 2010. Capitalizing on and accessories, but also specializes in repairing certain the emergence of Cleveland’s cycling culture , two brands of vintage motorcycles. “We already have [customers] friends, James Rychak and Travis Peeples, opened coming in from around the world. We want them to Blazing Saddles Cycle in Cleveland’s Detroit-Shoreway be able to park. We want them to be able to go to neighborhood in 2011. The two friends set up in a restaurants.” small storefront on Detroit Avenue and ran their early business as a backdoor custom bicycle shop. As the [Colosimo] believes business grew, a niche market soon became apparent, so Rychak and Peeples decided the time was right to progress to a full cycle shop. Cleveland’s heritage Nonetheless, Blazing Saddle isn’t your ordinary cycle of designing and shop. For example, most of their bikes are made of steel, a nod to commuters that rely on a steel frame’s manufacturing products toughness to handle the stress of the road. Bikes in other shops are often made out of aluminum or carbon fiber, adds value, both in a material meant to be lighter for improved speed but not well-suited for the often strenuous roads that terms of process and commuters face. Though initially conceived of as a custom shop, Blazing Saddle’s overall mission is to put perception. the right bike into the hands of the right cyclist. This mantra seems to be working; more than two years later they have grown so much that they relocated to a His goal remains to bring assembly of his motorcycles to 100-year-old ex-hardware store on Detroit Avenue near Cleveland. But the process has been frustratingly slow. Lake Avenue - the ceiling now adorned with bicycles He had hoped to be up and running by now. In the near instead of hammers. future, he expects to bring limited assembly to Cleveland, Website: http://blazingsaddlecleveland.com/ employing 12 local workers, mostly part-time to start. In addition, he hopes to bring cutting, welding, casting, and machining activities to Cleveland, noting that he already sources about 60 parts locally.
“It’s going to be a balance,” he says. “Manufacturing isn’t everything; manufacturing is something… The jobs I want to employ people in full-time are creative—designers, engineers.” He says the value proposition is in creating new products and developing new ideas. “I do love manufacturing. But the fact about manufacturing is it’s a cost-driven society. The real value is in creativity… the IP [intellectual property], the design, the engineering, that’s what we do here in Cleveland.”
Photo by Travis Peebles
109 Acknowledgements
Forming Cleveland is the result of the dedicated efforts of numerous arts and culture practitioners, academic researchers, and visual arts, craft and design professionals.
CPAC wishes to thank the Forming Cleveland advisory LAND studio; Angelica Pozo, ceramic artist; Scott Rosenstein, committee for its dedicated support and valuable guidance community involvement manager and Tremont Arts and as the research unfolded. Advisory committee members Cultural Festival manager, Tremont West Development included Michael Mikula, glass artist; Terry Schwarz, director, Corporation; Terry Schwarz, director, Cleveland Urban Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative; Jill Snyder, executive Design Collaborative; Jill Snyder, executive director, director, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Cleveland; Cleveland; Donald Black Jr., visual artist; Liz Maugans, Jim Votava, Tremont Farmers’ Market, Tremont West managing director, Zygote Press; and George Mauersberger, Development Corporation; and Ann Zoller, executive art department chair, Cleveland State University. director, LAND studio.
CPAC also extends its sincere gratitude to all of those CPAC would also like to thank the entire research team who participated in interviews, surveys, or focus groups for at the Center for Economic Development at the Maxine Forming Cleveland. Your vital insights into the strengths and Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland challenges facing the Visual Arts, Craft and Design sector State University for their tireless work and enthusiasm helped inform and validate this research immeasurably. in completing this project. Their expertise and innovative approaches in studying the Visual Arts, Craft and Design We would also like to thank the subjects of the eight case Sector went above and beyond our expectations. studies who graciously took time out of their busy schedules to share their experiences and expertise as members of Special appreciation to Maryanne Hiti for the design of the Cleveland Visual Arts, Craft and Design sector. They Forming Cleveland’s print and electronic publications. include: David Abbott, executive director, The George Forming Cleveland would not have been possible without Gund Foundation; Donald Black Jr., visual artist; Amy the generous support of CPAC’s funders. Forming Cleveland Callahan, director, Waterloo Arts; Scott Colosimo, was supported through dedicated research funding from Cleveland CycleWerks; Dan Cuffaro, chair of industrial The Educational Foundation of America. design, Cleveland Institute of Art; David Deming, former president, Cleveland Institute of Art; Paul Duda, gallery CPAC is also grateful for the continuing general operating owner, The Paul Duda Gallery; Michael Fleming, executive support for its programs and services from The Cleveland director, St. Clair Superior Development Corporation; Foundation, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, The Educational Michael Gill, editor, CAN Journal; Edward W. “Ned” Hill, Foundation of America, The George Gund Foundation, dean, Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State The Kresge Foundation, The Kulas Foundation, The John P. University; Mimi Kato, visual artist; Stewart Kohl, board Murphy Foundation, and Ohio Arts Council. member, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Cleveland; Lillian Kuri, program director for architecture, And finally, CPAC wishes to extend its gratitude to all of urban design, and sustainable development, The Cleveland those who are members of Cleveland’s Visual Arts, Craft Foundation; Wally Lanci, corporate counsel, Consolidated and Design sector. Their work is redefining the landscape Graphics Group; Liz Maugans, managing director, Zygote of our community and inspiring us to think about the city’s Press; Nicole McGee, principal artist and project manager future through the application of creativity to drive future of Upcycle St. Clair, St. Clair Superior Development innovations. Corporation; Gregory Peckham, managing director,
110 CPAC Board of Trustees 2014-2015 Cleveland State University Research Team Thomas V. Chema, chair, chairman, Gateway Consultants, Inc. Dr. Iryna Lendel, assistant director, Center for Economic Greg Peckham, vice chair, managing director, LAND studio Development Christine Nelson, treasurer, vice president regional Candi Clouse, research associate, Center for Economic business development, JobsOhio Regional Office of Team Development Northeast Ohio (Team NEO) Merissa C. Piazza, research associate, Center for Economic Patricia Cirillo, secretary, president, Cypress Research Group Development Jonathan Ratner, member-at-large, vice president, Ellen Cyran, senior programmer and Analyst, Center for sustainability initiatives, Forest City Enterprises Economic Development Harriet Applegate, executive secretary, North Shore Fran Stewart, Cleveland-area writer, editor and designer AFL-CIO Federation of Labor Nikki Glazer, graduate research assistant, Center for John R. Corlett, vice president, government relations and Economic Development community affairs, The MetroHealth System Andrew Lang, graduate research assistant, Center for Dr. Deforia Lane, director of music therapy, music and Economic Development medicine, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center Christopher Lohr, graduate research assistant, Center for Kevin Moore, managing director, Cleveland Play House Economic Development Anthony Panzica, president/CEO, Panzica Construction Company Graphic Design Gary Poth, senior vice president, Key Private Bank Maryanne Hiti Design LLC Santina Protopapa, executive director, Progressive Arts Alliance Printing Julian Rogers, director of community partnerships, Vedda Printing + Cleveland State University Tony Sias, artistic director, Cleveland School of the Arts
Linda Warren, vice president of placemaking, Cleveland Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) Neighborhood Progress thanks the following funders for their generous support Sean Watterson, owner, Happy Dog of this research:
CPAC Advisors Educational Foundation of America Kathleen Cerveny, director, institutional learning and arts initiatives, The Cleveland Foundation Deena Epstein, senior program officer, The George Gund Foundation Kathy Hallissey, director of community responsive grantmaking, The Cleveland Foundation
CPAC Staff Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) also Thomas B. Schorgl, president and CEO thanks the following funders for their continuing general Megan Van Voorhis, chief operating officer operating support for its programs and services: Meg Matko, administrative associate Nicholas Mathew, research fellow Kristin Puch, director of research and advancement LeAundra Richardson, arts administration fellow Valerie Schumacher, program coordinator Educational Foundation of America Adam Sheldon, operations and finance manager The George Gund Foundation About the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) Well-resourced, connected and united arts and culture has the power to improve lives and communities. To that end, CPAC serves and supports arts and cultural professionals and community leaders who are creating a bright future for greater Cleveland. CPAC’s research and advocacy fosters informed decision-making. CPAC’s training, counsel and online resources provide those we serve with the ideas, skills and connections to achieve their aims. By bringing people together both within the sector and throughout the region, CPAC ensures arts and culture is a continued force for community betterment.
Vision Greater Cleveland’s diverse arts and culture sector will be a leading partner in contributing to our community’s vitality and enlivening the human experience.
Mission To strengthen, unify and connect greater Cleveland’s arts and culture sector.
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